''aka'' ''Tora-san Goes French'' is a 1973 Japanese comedy film directed by

Yoji Yamada is a Japanese film director best known for his ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series of films and his Samurai Trilogy (''The Twilight Samurai'', ''The Hidden Blade'' and '' Love and Honor''). Biography He was born in Osaka, but due to his father's job ...

. It stars

Kiyoshi Atsumi Kiyoshi Atsumi (渥美清 ''Atsumi Kiyoshi''), born Yasuo Tadokoro (田所康雄 ''Tadokoro Yasuo'', 10 March 1928 – 4 August 1996), was a Japanese actor. He was born in Tokyo, and started his career in 1951 as a comedian at a strip-show the ...

as Torajirō Kuruma (Tora-san), and

Keiko Kishi is a Japanese actress, writer, and UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador. Life and career She made her acting debut in 1951. In the 1950s, David Lean had proposed her for the main role in ''The Wind Cannot Read'', which is about a Japanese language instru ...

as his love interest or "Madonna". ''Tora-san Loves an Artist'' is the twelfth entry in the popular, long-running ''

Otoko wa Tsurai yo is a Japanese film series starring Kiyoshi Atsumi as , a kind-hearted vagabond who is always unlucky in love. The series itself is often referred to as "Tora-san" by its fans. Spanning 48 installments released between 1969 and 1995, all of the ' ...

'' series.

Synopsis

Tora-san watches the family shop while the rest of his family takes a vacation to Kyushu. An old friend introduces Tora-san to his sister Ritsuko, and he promptly falls in love with her. She is an artist and has no time for Tora-san.

Cast

as Torajirō *

as Ritsuko Yanagi * Takehiko Maeda as Fumihiko Yanagi *

Chieko Baisho is a Japanese actress and singer. In Japan, she is well known for her performance as Sakura in the '' Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series from 1969 until 1995. In addition, she has acted in many films directed by Yōji Yamada since the 1960s. She won ...

as Sakura * Tatsuo Matsumura as Ryūzō Azuma * Chieko Misaki as Tsune Kuruma (Torajiro's aunt) *

Gin Maeda (born February 21, 1944) is a Japanese actor. He had a regular role in the ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' films, beginning with the first in the series (1969), as Sakura's husband. Filmography Film *''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series (1969–2019), Hiroshi S ...

as Hiroshi Suwa * Hayato Nakamura as Mitsuo Suwa * Hisao Dazai as Boss (Umetarō Katsura) * Gajirō Satō as Genkō *

Chishū Ryū was a Japanese actor who, in a career lasting 65 years, appeared in over 160 films and about 70 television productions. Early life Ryū was born in Tamamizu Village, Tamana County, a rural area of Kumamoto Prefecture in Kyushu, the most southe ...

as Gozen-sama

Critical appraisal

Stuart Galbraith IV calls ''Tora-san Loves an Artist'' a "solid" entry in the series, which is "alternately sweet and touching, funny and biting." The German-language site molodezhnaja gives ''Tora-san Loves an Artist'' three and a half out of five stars.

Availability

''Tora-san Loves an Artist'' was released theatrically on December 16, 1973. In Japan, the film was released on videotape in 1995, and in DVD format in 2008. Alin

Bibliography

English

* * * *

German

Japanese

* * * *

External links

''Tora-san Loves an Artist''
at www.tora-san.jp (official site) {{Yoji Yamada 1973 films Films directed by Yoji Yamada 1973 comedy films 1970s Japanese-language films Otoko wa Tsurai yo films Shochiku films Films with screenplays by Yôji Yamada Japanese sequel films 1970s Japanese films