Stage-Struck Tora-san

Stage-Struck Tora-san
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Yoji Yamada
Written by	Yoji Yamada Yoshitaka Asama
Starring	Kiyoshi Atsumi Nana Kinomi
Cinematography	Tetsuo Takaba
Edited by	Iwao Ishii
Music by	Naozumi Yamamoto
Distributed by	Shochiku
Release date	August 5, 1978 (1978-08-05)
Running time	107 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Stage-Struck Tora-san (男はつらいよ 寅次郎わが道をゆく, Otoko wa Tsurai yo: Torajirō Wagamichi o Yuku) aka Tora-san's Stage-Struck^[1] is a 1978 Japanese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō Kuruma (Tora-san), and Nana Kinomi as his love interest or "Madonna".^[2] Stage-Struck Tora-san is the twenty-first entry in the popular, long-running Otoko wa Tsurai yo series.

Tora-san returns from his travels throughout Japan to his family's home in Tokyo to find his uncle recovering from an illness. After a family fight erupts, he returns to the road and becomes friends with Tomekichi. When the pair come to Tokyo, they both fall in love with stage dancers.^[1][3][4]

• Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō^[5]
• Chieko Baisho as Sakura
• Nana Kinomi as Nanako Beni
• Tetsuya Takeda as Tomekichi Gotō
• Masami Shimojō as Kuruma Tatsuzō
• Chieko Misaki as Tsune Kuruma (Torajiro's aunt)
• Gin Maeda as Hiroshi Suwa
• Hayato Nakamura as Mitsuo Suwa
• Hisao Dazai as Boss (Umetarō Katsura)
• Gajirō Satō as Genkō
• Hiroshi Inuzuka
• Raita Ryū as Detective
• Chishū Ryū as Gozen-sama
• Shinobu Azusa as Shinobu Fuji

Kiyoshi Atsumi was nominated for Best Actor at the Japan Academy Prize ceremony for his work in Stage-Struck Tora-san and the following film in the series, Talk of the Town Tora-san (also 1978). Yoji Yamada was also nominated for Best Director for these two films.^[6]

Stuart Galbraith IV writes that Stage-Struck Tora-san is one of the weaker entries in the Otoko wa Tsurai yo series. He notes that co-star Tetsuya Takeda, a popular comic actor in Japan at the time, comes across as hammy in western eyes. According to Galbraith, the film works best as a nostalgic look at late-1970s popular culture. The opening dream segment is a spoof of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and there are references to Pink Lady as well as glimpses into Japan's economic situation of the era.^[1] The German-language site molodezhnaja gives Stage-Struck Tora-san three out of five stars.^[7]

Stage-Struck Tora-san was released theatrically on August 5, 1978.^[8] In Japan, the film was released on videotape in 1996, and in DVD format in 2002 and 2005.^[9]

Notes

Bibliography

• "OTOKO WA TSURAIYO: TORAJIRO WAGA MICHI O YUKU (1978)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 2012-10-17. Retrieved 2010-01-19.
• "OTOKO WA TSURAIYO -TORAJIRO WAGA MICHI". Complete Index to World Film. Retrieved 2010-01-19.
• Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro wagamichi wo yuku (1978) at IMDb
• Galbraith IV, Stuart (2006-03-14). "Tora-san 21: Tora-san's Stage-Struck (Region 3)". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2010-01-19.

• "Tora-San's Stage-struck" (in German). www.molodezhnaja.ch. Retrieved 2010-01-19.

• 男はつらいよ 寅次郎わが道をゆく(1978) (in Japanese). allcinema.net. Retrieved 2010-01-19.
• "男はつらいよ 寅次郎わが道をゆく". Japanese Cinema Database (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Archived from the original on 2012-03-11. Retrieved 2010-01-19.
• 男はつらいよ 寅次郎わが道をゆく (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2010-01-19.
• 男はつらいよ 寅次郎わが道をゆく (in Japanese). Kinema Junpo. Archived from the original on 2012-03-09. Retrieved 2010-01-19.

• Stage-Struck Tora-san Archived 2013-06-15 at the Wayback Machine at www.tora-san.jp (official site)