Simply Perfect

Fresh and Exciting

Admirable film.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

I see from the other reviews that TT was adapted from a successful TV series and is autobiographical of a well-known Japanese author. In that case, the central problem with TT seems to be too much reverence for the material.As a standalone movie, TT is way too long. It rambles and spends too much time on the ordinary details of life, therefore lacking pace and often feeling very depressing. For an international audience, this film could perhaps be cut by as much as half without losing its essence.On the plus side, the performances are sincere, with the standout being the great character actress Kiki Kirin as the very long-suffering mother. Sentimentally, I have given TT an extra point for being largely set in northern Kyushu, which is where my late wife was born and raised. This area, well-known for coal mining, is one of Japan's rural backwaters, and the young Masaya's strong desire to escape is entirely understandable.There are many funny and warm moments, though more of the first 3/4 is depressing, ordinary or just plain dull. The final quarter is much tighter and more involving, although still too drawn out.

This film is based on a best selling biography and it mostly tells the story of a mother and son. Told by the son and punctuated with numerous flashbacks, the film has a poignancy and sweetness that reminds me somewhat of Ozu's great films, in that it is a simple story about a relationship, told at a deliberately slow pace and it is not given to overt emotion, like it would be if it was made in America. The touching aspect of the film will move everyone, especially if you have a mom or she is forever in your heart. The cinematography is uniformly wonderful, it enhances the story. Clearly, this feels like a labor of love. I think its a special film, it tugs at your heartstrings while not manipulating your feelings. I fairly highly recommend it.

"Tokyo Tower: mom and me, and sometimes dad" is Masaya Nakagawa's (stage name Lily Franky) bestseller that has been compared to Haruki Murakami's "Norwegian Woods" in terms of popularity in Japan. This auto-biographical book focusing on Nakagawa's endearing relationship had with his mother has now been made into a wonderful movie.Clearly, director Joji Matsouka has made a very conscious effort to steer clear of pretentious, sappy scenes and the result is a movie that is so close to real life that it touches you on a different, more sublime level. He has wisely avoided glorifying the mother into a stereotyped "ideal woman" persona. Instead, we see in her a childlike simplicity that sometimes verges on silliness. Nor is she a flawless human being. Her embracing the son's university graduation certificate as he most important asset is a little outdated in this day and age. But all that makes her ever so human, real and endearing.Two echoing scenes could have easily succumbed to contrived tearjerkers but didn't – mother seeing teenage son off to go to college in Tokyo, and son meeting mother in Tokyo 15 years later, bringing her to live with him. Emotion is kept in low simmer and never allowed to boil over. In the latter scene, the heart-warming music does a lot.Neither does the director shy away from showing at great length the devastating agony of the mother and son's fight against her terminal gastric cancer. Again, the story is told plainly, with minimum deliberate manipulation of the audiences' emotion. This sequence reminds me particularly of a similar situation in Norwegian Woods where a daughter takes care of a dying father.Unlike the depressingly tragic story of Korea's Cannes winner (best actress) "Miyang" (2006) which I saw recently, Tokyo Tower is a story of an ordinary life with its share of joys and woes. There is no villain. Indeed, the father, an alcoholic artist, deserts his wife but there is no malice. Towards the end you can't help but love this irresponsible man a little. There is sparkling humor throughout the movie. Both actresses who play the mother (in two stages of her life) are simply marvelous. Playing the son in a credible performance is Jo Odaggiri who was the dashingly handsome ninja in "Shinobi" (2005). In a lesser but still important role as his girlfriend is Takako Matsu who is just as fresh and charming as she was in "April story" (1998).

Following the growing trend of big screen, TV drama adaptations, Matsuoka Joji's "Tokyo Tower: Okan To Boku To Tokidoki Oton" joins the ranks of such films as "Tokyo Friends: The Movie", "Unfair", "Sukeban Deka", "GTO" and the current Japanese box office smash "Hero". The 11-part Fuji TV series with Hayami Mokomichi and Baishou Mitsuko, who portrayed a grieving son and terminally ill mother was a critical ratings success in early 2007 and moved audiences in Japan, particularly during the emotional finale.It was thus with much skepticism that I went to go see the movie version of the series. I didn't think the movie would be able to capture the same emotional impact that the drama did in just two hours and a half. Luckily, I was proved wrong and the movie was in some ways, a nice improvement over the series.Like the movie adaptation of "Densha Otoko", most of the TV cast was replaced with bigger name actors for the big screen version. Pretty boy actor Odagiri Jo (Azumi, Shinobi, Kamen Rider Kuuga) plays the son, Nakagawa Masaya (Ma-Chan), a fledgling illustrator and part-time radio personality who is slowly adjusting to life in the big city of Tokyo after moving there from Kyushu during High school. Legendary character actress Kiki Kirin portrays the kindly and strong willed mother, Nakagawa Eiko, who despite all the setbacks in her life (including her recent diagnosis of terminal cancer) was able to provide for her son.While the drama series focused much of its story in Tokyo and with Masaya's struggles to care for his ailing mother after she arrives in the city for treatment, the film version explores the family's early life in Kyushu, particularly with the mother's early years. It was nice to see the young and vibrant mother during her years in Kyushu and her relationship with the young Masaya. Uchida Yayako portrays Masaya's mother as a young lady and was quite impressive and likable in her role. The child actors who portrayed Nakagawa Masaya as both a boy and adolescent were also very good in their roles.Unlike the drama series, Odagiri models his Masaya character after flamboyant author Lily Franky, who wrote the original novel from which the series and movie are based, and portrays him with odd bohemian flair yet thankfully it doesn't get too distracting. Kiki Kirin has always been known for her comedic and somewhat goofy roles but here she is absolutely spot on perfect in her dramatic portrayal. She brings just the right amount of motherly charm necessary without overplaying it. Her gut-wrenching scenes in the hospital as she is undergoing chemotherapy are rough to watch but her scenes with Odagiri are absolutely touching and their final farewell is every bit as tearful and heartbreaking as it was in the TV series.Another thing that was also interesting to see was the inclusion of Masaya's father portrayed by Kobayashi Kaoru whose character we learned much more about in the movie.Director Matsuoka Joji and screenwriter Matsuo Suzuki do a superb job at bringing us another interpretation of Lily Franky's story and succeeds at making it different enough from the drama series without changing much around.With the landmark Tokyo Tower ever present in the background, "Tokyo Tower" is a somber movie that explores life and death and particularly the love shared between a mother and her child. Sometimes the movie was a bit heavy-handed but one of the most touching scenes in the movie involves Masaya reading the letter his mother left for him after her death, thanking him for all he has done. It is quite simple and traditionally Japanese in its execution but it really was effective in showing the loving relationship these two characters shared.