J-horror maestro Kiyoshi Kurosawa turns losing face into a living nightmare in this disconcerting saga that sees Teruyuki Kagawa struggling to avoid telling wife Kyoko Koizumi and sons Yu Koyanagi and Kai Inowaki that he’s unemployed. But with his days revolving around job centres and soup kitchens, Kagawa becomes haunted by his shame and the threat of exposure. Had Kurosawa continued to concentrate on such terror in the everyday, this might have become the ultimate credit-crunch chiller. But the scenario unravels after a shopping-mall encounter pitches the family into turmoil, and the restoration of harmony at Inowaki’s piano audition feels unwarrantedly cosy.
Tokyo Sonata Review
When Ryuhei Sasaki (Kagawa) loses his job in middle management he attempts to hide the fact from his family. The results are mixed though, as the strain begins to tell on his relationships...
Release Date:
30 Jan 2009
Running Time:
119 minutes
Certificate:
12A
Original Title:
Tokyo Sonata
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