It's Tough Being a Man

It's Tough Being a Man (男はつらいよ, Otoko wa tsurai yo) [1](Am I Trying) (Tora-san Our Lovable Tramp)[2] 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.

It's Tough Being a Man
Theatrical poster
Directed byYoji Yamada
Written byYoji Yamada
Azuma Morisaki
StarringKiyoshi Atsumi
Music byNaozumi Yamamoto
CinematographyTetsuo Takaba
Edited byIwao Ishii
Distributed byShochiku
Release date
  • August 27, 1969 (1969-08-27)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

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.[3][4][5]

Cast
  • Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajiro[6]
  • Chieko Baisho as Sakura
  • Sachiko Mitsumoto as Fuyuko Tsubouchi
  • Chishū Ryū as Gozen-sama
  • Takashi Shimura as Hyōichirō Suwa
  • Shin Morikawa as Kuruma Tatsuzō
  • Gin Maeda as Hiroshi Suwa
  • Masaaki Tsusaka as Noboru Kawamata
  • Gajirō Satō as Genkichi (Man at the Temple)
  • Keiroku Seki as Master of Ceremonies
  • Chieko Misaki as Tsune Kuruma (Torajiro's aunt)
  • Hisao Dazai as Tarō Ume (Print Shop)
  • Shunsuke Ōmi as Manager
  • Taichirō Hirokawa as Michio
  • Fusatarō 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.[7] The Japanese academic film magazine Kinema Junpo gives It's Tough Being a Man a rating of five out of five stars.[3]

Availability

It's Tough Being a Man was released theatrically on August 27, 1969.[8] In Japan, the film has been released on videotape in 1995 and 1996, and in DVD format in 2008.[9] 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.[5]

References
  1. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064777/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/movies/homevideo/07Kehr.html
  3. 男はつらいよ (in Japanese). Kinema Junpo. Archived from the original on 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  4. "OTOKO WA TSURAI YO (1969)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 2012-10-17. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  5. Rich, Jamie S. (2009-12-21). "Tora-San: Collector's Set 1". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  6. 男はつらいよ (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  7. "Awards for Otoko wa tsurai yo (1969)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  8. 男はつらいよ (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  9. 男はつらいよ(1969) (in Japanese). allcinema.net. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
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