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Movie Overview
Cast
• Teruyuki Kagawa
• Kyoko Koizumi
• Haruka Igawa
Director
• Kiyoshi Kurosawa
MPAA Rating
PG-13 - for thematic elements and brief strong language.
Tokyo Sonata (2009)

REVIEWS
NEWS
INTERVIEWS
OTHER
OFCS Rating: 100% Fresh
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"It may be a departure from his recent forays into J-horror, but in this family drama and allegory of contemporary Japanese anxieties, Kiyoshi Kurosawa is still rocking a haunted house."  Channel 4 Film  Anton Bitel

3.5/5
"just as unnerving as his J-horror freak-outs."  Filmcritic.com  Chris Cabin

B+
""Tokyo Sonata" is an engaging family drama that brings out the universality of modern existence through a prism of Japanese life."  ColeSmithey.com  Cole Smithey

"The extraordinary thing is the way Kurosawa systematically dismantles the fabrics of the nuclear family."  Slant Magazine  Fernando F. Croce

5/5
"A startling and creative contemporary fable about some of the drastic changes that are rocking the traditional understanding of work and family life in Japan."  Spirituality and Practice  Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

5/5
"Kurosawa has fashioned his masterpiece: a biting, sensitive and comprehensible film that is also human, contemporary and political."  The L Magazine  Henry Stewart

"Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Tokyo Sonata, is an unexpected pleasure -- not only because it's a departure from the J-horror films that made his name, but because it's also a startlingly rich, funny and strong drama, without a hint of the supernatural or unearthly."  Cinematical  James Rocchi

63/100
"With this sudden shift in genre and ambition, Kurosawa ends up delivering his best film yet."  MovieMartyr.com  Jeremy Heilman

4/5
"Tokyo Sonata probes Japanese society with an incisiveness and lucidity that renders it all the more relevant and universal."  Boxoffice Magazine  John P. McCarthy

"Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa (no relation to the master) is best known for his up-market horror films (Cure, Retribution, and many others.) Here he is dealing with a horror of a different sort: the meltdown of the Japanese economy and the collapse of the soc"  Film.com  Jonathan F. Richards

3.5/5
"It lives up to the expectations implied by its title: acutely observed Ozu-inspired domestic drama, beautiful composed yet unfussy shots, and emotional restraint."  Film-Forward.com  Kent Turner

B
"Although Kurosawa is able to balance tones ranging from humor to unexpected domestic violence, his fantastical transition comes a wee bit left of field, requiring his audience to regain their equilibrium."  Reeling Reviews  Laura Clifford

3/4
"Another of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's chilling portraits of micro and macro alienation, a family drama as chillingly controlled and despondent as the horror films that gained him international recognition."  Slant Magazine  Nick Schager

"A strong and sensitive drama that is all the more surprising because it is most assuredly not the kind of thing that those familiar with Kurosawa's work might be expecting"  Critic Doctor  Peter Sobczynski

B
"Kurosawa effectively depicts the present world financial crisis with his microcosmic analysis of the Sasaki family."  Reeling Reviews  Robin Clifford

5/5
"... a new level of deep social commentary, frequently in danger of plunging over into the abyss of human foible and despair, finds its incredible resolution in a well-loved solo piano work (Debussy's "Clair de lune") ..."  JWR  S. James Wegg

8/10
"Kurosawa's relaxed pacing and lack of concern for explaining every last thing will be a welcome relief if you've wearied of blockbusters..."  Playback:stl  Sarah Boslaugh

7/10
"It is not a bad movie at all, nor is it graceful."  Antagony & Ecstasy  Tim Brayton

4/4
"Tokyo Sonata is Kurosawa allowed at last to make a horror film that reveals that, for him, true horror is being content to accept salvation in the life of a sheep."  Film Freak Central  Walter Chaw
OFCS Rating: 100% Fresh
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