TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

2hotFeature one of my absolute favorites!

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

badidosh While Takashi Yamazaki may be guilty of manipulation in wringing out the nostalgia-induced sentimentality off his viewers' hearts and eyes, it's not like those potential tears are totally undeserved in the oh-so romantic rendering of a bygone Tokyo. "Always - Sunset on Third Street," adapted from Ryohei Saigan's manga, has all the adornment of schmaltz as it follows a number of the Tokyo working class in 1958 as, following the war and backdropped by a being rebuilt Tokyo Tower, they steadily struggle through their lives to a better future. Yamazaki, though, roots his film in an innocent glorification of the community striving for a common goal as seen through warm sepia tones and golden hues.Among the multitude of the characters, Mutsuno Hoshino (Maki Horikita, who I just have to say remains as one of my favorite Japanese actors) is a recent junior high graduate who goes to Tokyo dreaming of a job at a prestigious automobile company only to find herself working as a repair woman in a car repair shop owned by Norifumi Suzuki (Shin'ichi Tsutsumi). Across the street is Ryunosuke Chagawa (Hidetaka Yoshioka), a candy shop owner struggling to make it as a serious novelist and makes up for his literary shortcomings by regularly submitting juvenile stories for a boys' magazine. Hiromi Ishizaki (Koyuki), a sake bar owner with a shady past, receives Junnosuke (Kenta Suka), a boy abandoned by his single mother, to be left in her care and, in turn, she leaves the boy to Ryunosuke.Taking place in a broadly idealistic and exaggeratedly whimsical parallel reality, Yamazaki may often succumb to contrived melodramatic trappings and a few missed comedic notes, yet his relentlessly effervescent tale possesses absorbing set pieces and a contagious joie de vivre none so more affectingly displayed by the film's closing shot. An unabashedly giddy fairy tale, "Always" is an ode and a love letter to the city's halcyon days as shared by its inhabitants who are slowly rising from its past and, slowly but surely, to the age of TV, refrigerator, and Coca-Cola.

Lucy Crazy It begins with a view from a young girl getting her grand dream of working in Tokyo and expands into such a complex story. A wonderfully written movie with a great story telling of humanity and lessons of life that everyone can learn from. It's a beautiful movie. Why isn't it here in the US??? I saw the movie en-route to Tokyo in March 2006. there were a lot of foreign films that are very well down, perhaps, American film makers should watch more foreign films and learn how to tell a story right. This movie alone worth my trip and I will always travel on China Airlines for it's good choice of movies. Movies like this should be imported more often. All actors done a good job. I have only cried about a movie twice before, this is the 3rd film made me cry!

shusei I understand that some people love such retro film. But I think this film not at all a good example of the genre.There are good films in this genre--"The Sting",for example. In good retro films authors don't rely upon the nostalgic atmosphere,which is different by nationalities and which can not at all be the main problem of filmmakers. Good retro films have original, well-composed interesting stories and good actors, who can keep silent or simply walk around with absolute authenticity of the roles. And of course, director of this genre must understand that retro films are stylized genre in the end, because naive admiration of the past may easily turn into a conservative, nationalistic political manifesto(Really the campaign for this film's domestic sales,including DVD release, gradually have got such nuance, saying "We are happy to have been born in Japan"!). Not one of these important points was kept in mind or resolved by the authors of this film.As a results,this film seems very naive. The story is banal, actors are too easily overacting,and the worst of all, there are plenty of CG images, without which good directors could have told the same story more effectively.

peerah This piece of great film work took Japan by storm, and once I saw it realized why it had turned out that way. The film is immensely nostalgic and filled with bits of memorable moments that would send you bursting out with laughter while tears are still continuing to fill up your eyes.The plot is austerely simple, yet the characters are smartly introduced and thoroughly elaborated. It's ultimately easy for us to believe that the Third Street community and those characters are real. The relationships between them are reasonably developed and eventually leads to a powerful and heart-wrenching-yet-warmly ending.This is not a regular tear-jerker. Emotional scenes are not forced in as in any other movies, but effectively and strategically put into the right places, resulting in a gradual and natural emotional building.The music and photography are flawless, and tremendously help with the holistic ambiance of the film. Acting is also impeccable.Truly a worth-seeing gem for movie lovers. Another delicate Asian craft which has all the qualities that Hollywood mainstream movies still lack of.