Always: Sunset on Third Street
{{Infobox film
| name = Always: Sunset on Third Street
| image = Always Sanchōme no Yūhi.jpg
| caption = Theatrical poster
| director = Takashi Yamazaki
| producer = Shūji Abe
Chikahiro Ando
Keiichiro Moriya
Nozomu Takahashi
| screenplay = Takashi Yamazaki
| based_on = {{based on|Sunset on Third Street|Ryōhei Saigan}}
| narrator =
| starring = Hidetaka Yoshioka
Shinichi Tsutsumi
Koyuki
Maki Horikita
Kenta Suga
Kazuki Koshimizu
Tomokazu Miura
Hiroko Yakushimaru
| music = Naoki Sato
| cinematography = Kōzō Shibasaki
| editing = Ryuji Miyajima
| production_companies = {{Plainlist|
- Nippon TV
- Robot Communications
- Shogakukan
- VAP
- Toho
- Dentsu
- Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation
- Yomiuri Shimbun
- Shirogumi
- Imagica
- Sapporo Television Broadcasting
- Miyagi Television Broadcasting
- Chukyo Television Broadcasting
- Hiroshima Telecasting
- Fukuoka Broadcasting Corporation
}}
| distributor = Toho
| released = {{Film date|2005|11|05|df=y}}
| runtime = 133 minutes
| country = Japan
| language = Japanese
| budget =
| gross =
}}
{{nihongo|Always: Sunset on Third Street|ALWAYS 三丁目の夕日|Ōruweizu: San-chōme no Yūhi}} is a 2005 Japanese drama film written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki, based on the manga Sunset on Third Street by Ryōhei Saigan. It was chosen as Picture of the Year at the Japan Academy Film Prize in 2006. The film spawned two sequels, Always: Sunset on Third Street 2 (2007) and Always: Sunset on Third Street '64 (2012).
Plot
{{More plot|date=April 2018}}
In 1958, with the impending completion of Tokyo's TV broadcasting tower as a symbol of Japan's escalating post-war economic recovery, rural schoolgirl Mutsuko (Maki Horikita) arrives from the provinces to begin her first job with Suzuki Auto. Initially impressed by meeting company "president" Norifumi Suzuki (Shinichi Tsutsumi), Mutsuko is shocked to discover her workplace is actually a shabby auto repair shop in Tokyo's down-at-heel Yuhi district.
Suzuki is a bad-tempered employer but Mutsuko is welcomed by his wife, Tomoe (Hiroko Yakushimaru), and their impish 5-year-old son, Ippei (Kazuki Koshimizu). One of Ippei's favorite haunts is a five-and-dime store managed by struggling serial writer Ryunosuke Chagawa (Hidetaka Yoshioka). Regarding now-successful writers like Nobel-prize winner Kenzaburo Oe, as overrated, Chagawa wants to be more than a hack churning out sci-fi yarns and selling cheap toys on the side.
When alluring newcomer Hiromi (Koyuki) opens a sake bar in the area, she gathers clientele quickly—in dramatically compressed manga style—but also finds herself lumbered with Junnosuke (Kenta Suga) the orphaned offspring of the bar's previous tenant. Drunk, and smitten by Hiromi, Chagawa accepts custodianship of the boy.
Reception
The film ranked 15th at the Japanese box office in 2005,{{cite web |url=http://www.jetro.go.jp/en/market/trend/industrial/pdf/jer0610-2e.pdf |title=Archived copy |website=www.jetro.go.jp |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070222004704/http://www.jetro.go.jp/en/market/trend/industrial/pdf/jer0610-2e.pdf |archive-date=22 February 2007 |url-status=dead}} and won 12 prizes at the 2006 Japanese Academy Awards, including the awards for Best Film, Director, Actor and Screenplay. It also won the audience award at the 2006 New York Asian Film Festival.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dohafilminstitute.com/blog/dfi-film-review-always-sunset-on-third-street|title=DFI Film Review: Always - Sunset on Third Street}}
It has been said that the film caused a Shōwa nostalgia boom.[https://book.asahi.com/jinbun/article/14085327 「良き時代への懐古」が意味するもの――『昭和ノスタルジアとは何か』]. 好書好日. 7/1/2021.
Cast
- Maki Horikita as Mutsuko Hoshino, the apprentice
- Hidetaka Yoshioka as Ryunosuke Chagawa, the writer
- Shinichi Tsutsumi as Norifumi Suzuki, the mechanic
- Koyuki as Hiromi Ishizaki, sake bar owner
- Hiroko Yakushimaru as Tomoe Suzuki, the mechanic's wife
- Kazuki Koshimizu as Ippei Suzuki, the mechanic's son
- Kenta Suga as Junnosuke Furuyuki, the abandoned boy
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0488870}}
- {{anime News Network|anime|6492}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_c.php?num_c=322281|title=ALWAYS 三丁目の夕日(2005)|access-date=2009-05-08|publisher=www.allcinema.net|language=ja}}
- {{cite web |url=http://search.varietyjapan.com/moviedb/cinema_36803.html|title= ALWAYS 三丁目の夕日|access-date=2009-05-16|publisher=Variety Japan|language=ja| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090331141449/http://search.varietyjapan.com/moviedb/cinema_36803.html| archive-date= 31 March 2009 | url-status= live}}
{{Sunset on Third Street|state=expand}}
{{Takashi Yamazaki}}
{{Japan Academy Prize for Best Film}}
{{Hochi Film Award for Best Film}}
Category:Films directed by Takashi Yamazaki
Category:Films produced by Shūji Abe
Category:Films scored by Naoki Satō
Category:2000s Japanese-language films
Category:Live-action films based on manga
Category:Picture of the Year Japan Academy Prize winners