Tokyo Sonata

"Every family has its secrets."

2008 2h 0m JA

👍

7.4

SOLID

🔥

94%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.5

IMDB

★7.4TMDB · 295🍅94%Rotten Tomatoes●80Metacritic★7.5IMDB · 12,468

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The winds of change blow as a family grapples with unemployment, alienation, mistrust and a lack of communication. When a Japanese salaryman loses his job to outsourcing to China, it's simply the beginning of a series of shattering incidents, leading to the implosion of the family unit.

“Every family has its secrets.”

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Cast

Teruyuki Kagawa
Ryuhei Sasaki
Kyoko Koizumi
Megumi Sasaki
Kai Inowaki
Kenji Sasaki
Yu Koyanagi
Takashi Sasaki
Haruka Igawa
Kaneko
Kanji Tsuda
Kurosu
Kazuya Kojima
Mr. Kobayashi
Koji Yakusho
Robber

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Writers: Max Mannix, Sachiko Tanaka, Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan, Netherlands

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 47% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 18 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Japan, Netherlands.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, shot by Akiko Ashizawa. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Kazumasa Hashimoto. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Kôichi Takahashi shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Teruyuki Kagawa and Kyoko Koizumi and Kai Inowaki carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Kiyoshi Kurosawa directs. Akiko Ashizawa behind the camera. Kazumasa Hashimoto scores. Kôichi Takahashi cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Japan, Netherlands. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Earned back only 47% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
3Released 18 years ago.
4International production across 2 countries: Japan, Netherlands.
5Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, shot by Akiko Ashizawa. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Kazumasa Hashimoto. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Kôichi Takahashi shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Teruyuki Kagawa and Kyoko Koizumi and Kai Inowaki carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Every family has its secrets.".
10IMDB entry: tt0938341 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.