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Powerful

Absolutely Fantastic

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The first time I saw Madadayo(Kurasawa's final film), staying with a German pen pal(who was into Kurasawa and considered Madadayo one of her favourites) on a music course, I was largely unfamiliar with Akira Kurasawa's style and found myself underwhelmed. Bear in mind, this was five years ago, and having seen more of his films over the years I thought let's give Madadayo a second chance. And I am glad I did after purchasing the DVD. While nowhere near his best film(I can think of at least seven or eight movies of his that deserve that distinction), Madadayo was much better than I remembered, now I consider it one of his underrated and one of his better films of the post-Ran period. The missing cat sequence does go on for too long, and the film drags in spots. However, it has all the Kurasawa trademarks, especially the delicate direction, superb camera work and beautiful scenery. The music score gives a both reflective and dignified touch to the film, the story does resonate with the audience especially the ending and the characters particularly the professor do interest even if they are not as complex or as dimensional as some of Kurasawa's other work. The acting is naturalistic and engaging at least, with the professor beautifully played. Overall, I'm glad I gave Madadayo a chance because while it is never going to be one of my favourite films there is still much to admire. 8/10 Bethany Cox

I just finished watching "Madadayo" and can still feel tears welling up. I was moved at the beautiful movie and its message of kindness and living well. It took me a while to get into the film as it is rather slow and not much does happen, but Kurosawa is a master of mood, characterization and setting the scene and gradually, the movie takes its hold on you.The movie starts with the Professor's retirement from teaching. We learn he taught German, and he must have been a good teacher as well as quite a character, because large numbers of his students stay in touch with him through the decades. Kurosawa shows us that the students love and respect him dearly, as well as finding him eccentric. They refer to him as "solid gold". However, I kept asking "Why? Why would these people with busy lives, following their own paths, continue to hold birthday parties for their eccentric old professor?" And as the movie continued, I found myself answering my own question. Why not? It's a win-win situation for all involved. The students value the professor's company and despite joking protests to the contrary, the professor enjoys the visits and increasingly comes to depend on them. In post-WWII Japan, there must have been little to celebrate, so having an annual excuse to get together with people you enjoy would be reason enough. Kurosawa also expounds on one of his main themes from "Red Beard"; kindness begets kindness and that is what we continually shown in "Madadayo". The students help build the professor a new house after his home is destroyed in the fire-bombing of Tokyo. The professor loses his cat and the students and the community band together to try to find it, celebrating and congratulating one another when they think they find it, and commiserating and empathizing when they don't. The annual birthday parties continue and evolve from just the male students drinking with their professor to banquets involving their wives and children. I began to fall under the spell of how wonderful it would be to be part of this community, to know these people, to know there were others looking out for me, willing to help if I needed it, relishing my company, and knowing that once a year I could get together with all my friends from school (the ones we all lose touch with because our busy lives follow diverging paths), celebrate the life of a great man (a favourite teacher's lessons stay with you forever) and be part of something bigger and gentler and kinder.I can understand why someone expecting the excitement of "Seven Samurai", the suspense of "High and Low", or the innovation of "Rashomon" would be disappointed in "Madadayo", but if you enjoyed the lessons of "Red Beard", the gentle pull of "Madadayo" will delight and soothe you. You'll be left with a serene feeling of well-being, wishing you could be one of the Professor's students.

This is a beautiful movie. It is slow and deep rather than fast and shallow. It explores the relationships between a teacher and his students as he moves on from teaching to writing to retirement and they move into adulthood and parenthood. During this time they face the extreme challenges of World War II and its aftermath. But, at its core, the movie is not about the war. It is about the stability he presents to his students. He seems to behave in the same easy-going, confident manner, no matter how dire the circumstances. It is also about the way rolls eventually change: the students at first are nurtured by the teacher, but over time they begin to care about and then care for him. Most of us, or at least the lucky among us, have had good natured teachers that always seem to be able to get the best of their students. This is such a teacher. The scene depicting his 'foolproof' method for handling burglars is alone reason enough to watch the film. I recommend this movie and, if you like it, I recommend 'Ikiru' and the Japanese version of 'Shall We Dance'.

Madadayo is about a Japanese professor of German who has an incredibly fertile imagination and can tell humorous stories about almost anything. His students' love for him is what drives the movie, from the beginning, which was reminiscent of the end of Dead Poet's Society and had me veclempt before I knew what hit me, to when they scour the war ravaged city looking for the Professor's cat. The professor's stories are funny, but maybe something is lost in the translation. A lot of the time he seemed to be just whining about the war and how bad off he is which took away from my enjoyment of the movie. Perhaps in Japanese the war references are pulled off more subtly, for the most part the movie does a good job of not shoving the viewer's face in it (which makes you care about it all the more) but sometimes I found myself asking why the students liked the guy so much. Then again perhaps it's a good thing that my opinions on the character changed so much. Overall it goes as a collection of stories about the professor and the simplicity of the themes creates a satisfying emotional impact. I rated this one an 8/10.