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It's Tough Being a Man
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Wikipedia article
(Am I Trying) (Tora-san Our Lovable Tramp) is a 1969 Japanese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada and starring Kiyoshi Atsumi. It is the first entry in the popular, long-running 'Otoko wa Tsurai yo' series.
Synopsis
Torajiro Kuruma (Kiyoshi Atsumi) returns for the first time in 20 years to the neighborhood where he was born, Shibamata in Katsushika, Tokyo, He comes back in the middle of Taishakuten temple's Koshin Shinko Festival. After jumping into the festival procession, he has a teary reunion with his uncle (Shin Morikawa), aunt (Chieko Misaki), and his sister Sakura (Chieko Baisho). The next day, he joins his sister at her at a matchmaking meeting with the son of a company president. Tora's boorish and drunken behavior at the meeting ruins Sakura's chances of marriage. After getting into a huge fight with his uncle over his behavior at the meeting, he leaves home and heads to Nara. While there, he meets and falls in love with a young woman named Fuyuko. They return to Shibamata together and spend time together as if they were couple. At the same time, Sakura meets a print shop worker, Hiroshi (Gin Maeda). While Sakura and Hiroshi get married, Tora's relationship with Fuyuko is fleeting, as she is engaged to another man. Broken-hearted, Torajiro leaves after writing a letter of advice for Fuyuko, asking her to help take care of his sister and her new baby.
Cast
* Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajiro
* Chieko Baisho as Sakura
* Sachiko Mitsumoto as Fuyuko Tsubouchi
* Chish Ry as Gozen-sama
* Takashi Shimura as Hyichir Suwa
* Shin Morikawa as Kuruma Tatsuz
* Gin Maeda as Hiroshi Suwa
* Masaaki Tsusaka as Noboru Kawamata
* Gajir Sat as Genkichi (Man at the Temple)
* Keiroku Seki as Master of Ceremonies
* Chieko Misaki as Tsune Kuruma (Torajiro's aunt)
* Hisao Dazai as Tar Ume (Print Shop)
* Shunsuke mi as Manager
* Taichir Hirokawa as Michio
* Fusatar Ishijima as Michio's father
* Matsuko Shiga as Michio's mother
Critical appraisal
The Mainichi Film Awards and the Kinema Junpo Awards chose Kiyoshi Atsumi as the Best Actor for his role in 'It's Tough Being a Man', and Yoji Yamada was given the Best Director prize at the Mainichi Film Awards. The Japanese academic film magazine 'Kinema Junpo' gives 'It's Tough Being a Man' a rating of five out of five stars.
Availability
'It's Tough Being a Man' was released theatrically on August 27, 1969. In Japan, the film was released on videotape in 1995 and 1996, and in DVD format in 2008. AnimEigo released the film on DVD in the US along with the other first four films in the 'Otoko wa Tsurai yo' series on November 24, 2009.
References
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