Tora-san Plays Daddy (男はつらいよ 寅次郎物語, Otoko wa Tsurai yo: Torajirō Monogatari) aka Torasan's Tale is a 1987 Japanese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō Kuruma (Tora-san), and Kumiko Akiyoshi as his love interest or "Madonna". Tora-san Plays Daddy is the 39th entry in the popular, long-running Otoko wa Tsurai yo series.
Contents
Cast
Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō
Chieko Baisho as Sakura
Kumiko Akiyoshi as Takako
Midori Satsuki as Fude
Shimojo Masami as Kuruma Tatsuzō
Chieko Misaki as Tsune Kuruma (Torajiro's aunt)
Gin Maeda as Hiroshi Suwa
Hidetaka Yoshioka as Mitsuo Suwa
Hisao Dazai as Boss (Umetarō Katsura)
Jun Miho as Akemi
Gajirō Satō as Genkō
Chishū Ryū as Gozen-sama
Yūichirō Itō as Hideyoshi
Tatsuo Matsumura as Kikuda
Critical appraisal
Kiyoshi Atsumi won the Best Actor title at the Nikkan Sports Film Award ceremony for his role in Tora-san Plays Daddy. Nominations for the film at the Japan Academy Prize were for Best Director and Best Screenplay (Yoji Yamada), Best Supporting Actress (Kumiko Akiyoshi), and Best Sound (Isao Suzuki and Takashi Matsumoto). The German-language site molodezhnaja gives Tora-san Plays Daddy three and a half out of five stars.
Availability
Tora-san Plays Daddy was released theatrically on December 26, 1987. In Japan, the film was released on videotape in 1989 and 1996, and in DVD format in 2002, 2005, and 2008.