College of Arts and Humanities

Department of Mass Communication and Journalism

June 12: Tokyo Sonata (2008).  Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who is best known internationally for his suspense thrillers, the film tells the story of an ordinary Japanese family of four. The father, Ryuhei, loses his job unexpectedly. He decides not to tell his family and faces a lonely sojourn into the world of the secretly unemployed. The mother, Megumi, left on her own to manage the house, struggles to retain a bond with her oldest son in college, Takashi, and the youngest, Kenji, a sensitive elementary school boy. Kenji begins to mirror his father’s solitary behavior, finding a way to take clandestine piano lessons by using his school lunch money for lesson fees. The film, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, portrays the breakdown and ultimate redemption of an “ordinary family” in contemporary Japan. In Japanese with English subtitles.19 min. Rated PG13.