Madadayo

Madadayo
Theatrical Release Poster
Directed by	Akira Kurosawa
Screenplay by	Akira Kurosawa Ishiro Honda
Based on	Literary works byHyakken Uchida
Produced by	Hisao Kurosawa
Starring	Tatsuo Matsumura Kyoko Kagawa Hisashi Igawa George Tokoro
Cinematography	Takao Saito Masaharu Ueda
Music by	Shinichiro Ikebe
Production companies	Daiei Dentsu, Inc. Kurosawa Production
Distributed by	Toho
Release date	17 April 1993(1993-04-17)(Japan)
Running time	134 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Budget	¥1.3 billion
Box office	¥300 million

Madadayo(まあだだよ,Mādadayo,"Not yet" )is a 1993 Japanesecomedy-dramafilm. It is the thirtieth and final film to be completed byAkira Kurosawa.It was screened out of competition at the1993 Cannes Film Festival.The film was selected as the Japanese entry for theBest Foreign Language Filmat the66th Academy Awards,but was not accepted as a nominee.

Plot

The film is based on the life of Japanese academic and authorHyakken Uchida(1889–1971). While playfully teaching a class as aprofessorofGermanin the period immediately before theSecond World War,Uchida tearfully announces his retirement to his crestfallen students. In 1943, he moves into a spacious house but his wife is concerned about the safety of the neighborhood. Two students arrive to pretend to burglarize the home, but instead find a series of directions written by Uchida on how to break in to the house.

He hosts a dinner for several of his students, but as a result of wartime shortages he is embarrassed that he and his wife can only serve venison and horse meat. Their house burns down as a result ofU.S.bombing raids, and Uchida and his wife are forced to live in a small shack with no indoor toilet with their few remaining possessions.

After the end of the war, his former students get together to host a banquet to honor him. Asked several times whether he is ready to die, he replies repeatedly, “Not yet", so naturally the banquet is named “the Not Yet Banquet.” At the end of the raucous celebration, two American military policemen arrive but smile after they see that everyone is enjoying themselves.

With the help of his students, he builds a new house for himself and his wife with a pond that has a small island in the middle. A strayalley catarrives and he eventually adopts the cat, aptly naming it Alley.

The lot across from the couple is purchased by a developer who believes their house will be in the way and insists on purchasing it. Uchida refuses, and realizes that developing the lot will tower over his house. His students get together, purchase the lot, and return it to the seller who needed the money but also needed the lot. The seller promises not to disturb Uchida's view.

Alley disappears during a storm. Uchiro is heartbroken and sinks into a deep depression. He conducts numerous searches, enlisting his students, local schools, and the townspeople. Several false leads only lead him to further despair. On a train, he thinks he sees Alley at a station, but the train pulls away. He never sees Alley again.

Soon after, another cat appears. He names it Kurz (German for 'short') and with the new cat, his depression lifts.

His former students hold the seventeenth Not Yet Banquet. No longer an all-men's affair, children of his students present him with flowers, and the students' grandchildren present him with a large cake. After receiving the cake and giving his remarks, he collapses from arrhythmia. He is taken home to rest. He falls asleep and dreams of playingHide-and-seekas a child. The other children keep asking if he's ready while he is looking for a place to hide and he replies, "not yet". He finally finds a place to hide, and in so doing, looks out toward a golden sun.

Many of the movie's vignettes, like the search for a missing cat and the time Uchida spent in a one-room hut after his home was destroyed in a bombing raid, come from Uchida's own writings, but the movie also gives Kurosawa the chance to comment on aspects of modern Japanese history like theAmerican occupation of Japanthat he had only been able to explore indirectly in his earlier works.

Cast

• Tatsuo Matsumura– Professor Hyakken Uchida
• Kyōko Kagawa– Professor's Wife
• Hisashi Igawa– Takayama
• George Tokoro– Amaki
• Masayuki Yui – Kiriyama
• Akira Terao– Sawamura
• Takeshi Kusaka– Dr. Kobayashi
• Asei Kobayashi – Rev. Kameyama
• Hidetaka Yoshioka– Takayama's son
• Yoshitaka Zushi – Neighbor
• Mitsuru Hirata– Tada
• Nobuto Okamoto – Ōta
• Tetsu Watanabe
• Norio Matsui
• Noriko Honma– Old lady holding a cat

Release

Madadayowas distributed theatrically in Japan byTohoon 17 April 1993.The film was exhibited at various American film festivals beginning on March 20, 1998.It did not initially receive a wide theatrical release and was released directly to television by WinStar Cinema and first broadcast onTurner Classic Moviesin September 1999.It was reissued theatrically on September 1, 2000.

English-subtitledDVDshave been released by Winstar and theCriterion Collectionin the U.S.,Madmanin Australia, Yume Pictures in the UK, andMei Ahin Hong Kong. ABlu-rayedition, without English subtitles, is available in Japan as part of a box set withRashomon,Ran,andThe Quiet Duel.

Reception

In Japan, the film won the awards for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Lighting at theJapanese Academy Awards.All these awards were given to their respective crews for their work on bothMadadayoandRainbow Bridge.

Madadayoreceived generally positive reviews from critics, maintaining an 87% approval rating onRotten Tomatoes.

See also

• List of submissions to the 66th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of Japanese submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

References

Bibliography

• Conrad, David A. (2022).Akira Kurosawa and Modern Japan.McFarland & Co.ISBN978-1-4766-8674-5.
• Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008).The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography.Scarecrow Press.ISBN978-1461673743.

External links

• MadadayoatIMDb
• MadadayoatAllMovie
• Madadayoat theTCM Movie Database
• Madadayo(in Japanese)at theJapanese Movie Database