Beautiful camera and a well-written story, just not speaking so much to me

Slow moving, methodical, beautiful, thoughtful movie. I first have to start by saying it took me 3 attempts to watch this. It is a slow moving movie and if you aren't up for that you will not enjoy it. That being said if you are this movie is quite deep and has something to say. It is both a critique of Japanese society at the time but also maybe also has a more deeper message about happiness, life, and what it means to be human. This movie is definitely not for everyone but I great movie for those interested in it.

The movie began well, focusing on a man's struggle with unexpected unemployment and his desire to keep it secret from his family. Eventually, the characters' stories went off in some weird and rather implausible directions and I lost interest.

This is a somewhat clever film about members of the same family who have their own secrets to hide - not wanting to tell relatives what their doing for fear of judgement. It provides an insight into male shame and dignity perhaps...male peer pressue in Japanese culture. Its a pretty low key film, with some thought provoking dialogue. Its not exactly a gripping watch but I liked the way the plot progressed. If you can stick with it, its worth seeing, though it's not exactly an entirely impactful film, it is thought provoking and it's still worth seeing. Quirky, mundane, interesting. Not great but definitely not bad.

The financial crisis of 2008 rocked the world — sometimes we forget this. In Japan, losing one's job is particularly devastating as there exists a stigma and cultural sense of shame that accompanies the horrific news. Tokyo Sonata follows the Sasakis, a middle-class family whose home bumps up against train-tracks. Ryūhei (Teruyuki Kagawa) is the family's patriarch who loses his job in "administration" in the opening scene. You feel for him, but soon learn that the entire system for which he profited is flawed as he cannot even state his skills to prospective employers — the benign question, "What are your skills?" completely befuddles the man. Ryūhei's storyline is the most compelling — he runs into a childhood friend who has also lost his job (Kanji Tsuda), but pretends to go to work every day, setting his phone to call him every 20 minutes so he can appear busy — but we also follow the three other members of the family, none of whom have the most interesting threads. Megumi (Kyoko Koizumi), Ryūhei's wife, seeks purpose as a homemaker and struggles with how to handle her husband's firing, that is, when it eventually comes to light. Kenji (Kai Inowaki) becoming a piano prodigy seemed to come out of nowhere and Takashi's (Yu Yoanagi) storyline probably could've been cut altogether — foreign nationals who are not residents of the U.S. can join the military and fight in our wars?? Ryūhei lashes out ostensibly as the family's patriarch, but really because it's the only thing he has control over anymore. To end the film, the parents come to accept their cold reality and embrace in the light that is their piano prodigy son. Tokyo Sonata is a movie about purpose, which can be both a blessing and a curse.

The story of this family is touching and sometimes comical, and the slightly hallucinatory touches work on some internal level, still I think there is a lack of focus regarding the story in general and the ending in particular that makes me dubious.

The film is as dynamic as a classical piece, full of a wide range of emotions, thoughts and places, perfeclty put together to achieve finesse.

Beautifully crafted and superbly acted Japanese melodrama with a political backdrop to boot.

A beautiful drama from Japan with intensity and tearful moments.

Very smart movie. Funny at times. Sad and tragic at others. But all is not lost. The director, who himself does not have children, in an interview, stated that he used his own interactions with university students, acquired while teaching them about movies. In his words, the younger generation is different. They want to do things in their own unique way and not necessarily in a bad way. The child actor, Yu Koyanagi, shares some of the character's perseverance. He, himself had decided to become an actor without any encouragement or help from his parents. Trust the younger generation and you will not be sorry.

Japanese language with subtitles Director, Kiyoshi Kurosawa (who usually does horror). It is interesting to see a Japanese take on the fraught situation of the family bread winner losing his job. The film opens with 40-something Ryuhei, being made redundant from his administrative middle management job. The story then follows a fairly conventional story arc of denial, lying, desperation, disintegration and finally some kind of redemption. It centres on the Sasaki family who live in a modest home in Tokyo. There is Megumi, the dutiful wife who looks after the home and two teenage sons Takashi and Kenji. One of whom, Kenji , has an untapped talent for the piano whilst Takashi is hoping to join the army. Megumi is bored with her life, but duty prevents her from doing anything about it such as divorce. In one scene the older son asks her "Why don't you divorce him Mum?" but she just looks to the distance. Soon the family union unravels. Ryuhei visits the job center and just can't identify any unique skills, which is a typical problem of a middle aged manager anywhere. He doesn't tell his wife about losing his job and instead spends his days near the local food bank with all the other fully-suited and briefcased unemployed salary men just wasting their days away. He befriends a smartly dressed salary man who has been unemployed for months; his trick is to program his phone to ring every now and then and pretend to talk business loudly. He even gets Ryuhei to come home with him posing as a work colleague to convince his wife and daughter that all is ok. But just after the meal, the daughter secretly reveals to Ryuhei that they both know all about the ruse. Eventually Ryuhei accepts that he'll never be middle management again and takes on cleaning toilets in a shopping mall. A few weeks go by and he hears that his erstwhile friend has committed joint suicide with his wife - "He made her do it as well", a cleaning lady states. Meanwhile Kenji finds a piano teacher who recognises his raw talent but when his father finds out there is a violent altercation with Kenji ending up in hospital. In a later scene, a knife wielding burglar breaks into the house and ties up Megumi, but she find this exciting and decides to run off with him to the sea shore in a stolen car, they even have fumbled, clothed sex - but even the burglar is suicidal as he just wants his lock-smith business back and be an honest man. Things get from bad to worse for Ryuhei as he is knocked down by a car and left for dead on the side of the road, he is there overnight by which time he looks like a piece of litter covered in leaves. But Megumi comes back and he is none the wiser, his injuries heal and they both look on at Kenji as he completes his piano audition for a prestigious music school. So there is hope after all the despair.

Slow-moving.... yet somewhat redeeming towards the last quarter... Music is very nice.

This is some kind of unique masterpiece. I didn't know what to think of it at first, but as the film went on, it just got better and better. I don't see many movies that leave me completely awe struck, but this was just that kind of film. Quietly honest, darkly funny, and featuring an underlying melancholy that just hits right at the core. If you get the chance. Watch this movie!

Another moody film from Japan. Supported majorly by the mood and atmosphere it generates, the film tells a troublesome story of an ordinary 3-member family. Displaying all the main cultural themes of Japan (Woman subordination, work-place hierarchy, economic downturn, obstinate self-esteem,etc), the film depicts the story with strong constrain and downplay, adding power to the entire film. "Bear" and "gone" interplay throughout the movie, resonating with the filming techniques, cohesively and comprehensively.

one of my favorites.

I loved the cinematography in this film, and I remember that this film was crazy. I have to rewatch since it was such a crazy film of great quality.

boring realistic unemployment & family issues

Tokyo Sonata is a stellar drama about a family in the throes of Japan's economic crisis. However, this isn't just a great film about problems in Japan, but rather, it feels universal in its subject matter and rather timely with today's current world events. The plot follows a family of four: Ryuhei, who is recently unemployed and hiding that fact from his wife, Megumi, the housewife who is left to contend with the couple's rebellious sons, Taka, who wants to join the U.S. military, and Kenji, who wants to play the piano. The story follows how their lives are dramatically changed by the country's rapidly changing economic climate, and how their bonds begin to break apart and then come back together again after a series of life-altering events. The story itself is very engaging and timely in its subject matter, and thankfully, never becomes contrived in what it portrays, nor melodramatic. Everything about it feels real and there's never a moment where the viewer would say, "That's really stupid. Who would ever do that?" It's a very down-to-earth kind of drama that feels contemporary in a way that the viewer can relate to. Furthermore, the acting is also quite good, even from the child actors, which is a rarity as most child actors are awful. Each actor fully assimilated themselves into their roles and breathed life into their characters. They were so good, in fact, that I can't pick a favorite performance because they make each character feel like an actual person, rather than a character in a film. What more could you ask for in a drama? On top of being a heartfelt and heartbreaking drama, it also works damn well as a comedy. Whether it was an emotional moment, or a moment of humor, I felt as the film intended the viewer to feel because it all feels so real. Tokyo Sonata is a stellar drama that deals with its subject matter with care and grace. It never feels forced, contrived, or stupid, but it makes everything alive, as it should. It's a universal drama that is well worth watching if you enjoy watching a good drama. I highly recommend it.

Salary man loses his job and in order to save face lives a lie to his family by continuing to set off to work as if all was normal. Meanwhile his wife detects the changes whilst his two son's grow further away from him. The backdrop is the 2008 Japanese recession, and throughout we see suited figures walking ghostly across the screen, some looking for jobs, others like the lead character living their own lies. The movie doesn't pull any punches in it's damming portrayal of a modern Japan, throughout we see Tokyo portrayed as confined, gritty, cold and sterile. Gone are the neon and hyper kinetics of Shubuya or the affluent Ginza, what we have are job centre queues and homeless shelter camps. What this movie also draws light on is a sense of masculinity in the modern age. We have the sins of the father resonating throughout this movie adding to a greater sense of tragedy. Throughout Tokyo Sonata we feel as though the tragic nature of the storyline can only head in one direction, however whereas many tragedies shows art as destruction, here we have art as saviour. A truly touching movie, the likes of which I haven't seen in a while. The movie doesn't wallow in it's own self pity, what is shows is that all our destined paths can only be walked by us alone, no matter what ties and bonds we have made along the way. If every movie endeavoured to convey this stark yet simple message, then I'll be for that.

Harrowing story about a father losing his job and the ensuing deterioration of his family in Japan. Very relatable for an American audience and opens one's eyes to modern day problems that we hear about everyday, but don't really emphathize with unless it has happened or is happening to us.