Tora-san, Welcome Back!

This was just beautiful. I could understand people not familiar with the Tora-san series not liking it nearly as much, but I feel like watching this without watching at least some of the others would be like watching the finale of a tv show that ran for 10+ seasons without seeing any other episodes.

Tora-san, Wish You Were Here is the 50th (and almost certainly last) film in the Tora-san series. Quite wonderfully, it was also released exactly 50 years after the first instalment. 48 films were made between 1969 and 1995, and after the series' lead actor, Kiyoshi Atsumi sadly passed away in 1996, a re-edit (with a few new scenes) of an earlier film was released as entry #49 in 1997, and then 22 years later, the series concluded here.

This is a deeply nostalgic movie. It's focused on the past, but gives enough insight into the lives of all the characters played by cast members still alive to satisfy as a series epilogue of sorts. Atsumi appears in numerous emotional flashbacks throughout, and his character, Tora, has something of a mythic weight, with many characters recalling him fondly, and missing him. It's likely Tora himself passed away as did Atsumi, but as it's never explicitly stated, it creates this feeling that he lives on, even if it's just metaphorical; even if it's just in the hearts and minds of those he knew.

There are so many great edits between flashbacks and present day events. Most of the truly effective and tear jerking moments contrast the past with the present for dramatic effect (and sometimes for humour, too).

Funnily enough, its tendency to look at the passage of time, growing old, and the nature of memories themselves reminded me of another great 2019 film, Martin Scorsese's The Irishman. Of course, that one is far darker and more depressing, and in no way is Wish You Were Here a crime film, but some of the themes are similar, as are some of the things the characters feel and deal with. Also: directors Scorsese and Yoji Yamada are both legendary directors who have been making movies for decades and are still blessing us with new movies to this day, and have both demonstrated a knack for looking at themes related to growing old. Yamada is indeed a good 10 years older than Scorsese, so it's arguably even more impressive that he's still capable of making great movies.

Complaints here are minor. Of course, this won't resonate nearly as much if you're not familiar with the series, but it really is a series worth watching all the way through. Not every instalment is great, but considered as a whole, the 50-film series truly is something special.

The only ways this might let fans down is the digital look of some modern day scenes- occasionally, it looks a little too saturated and glossy, compared to the series' usual aesthetics. It may be about 10 minutes too long, as the sweet spot for a Tora-san film runtime tends to be 100-105 minutes, in my opinion. Also: it doesn't have any scenes besides flashbacks that take place in a truly distinct or unique Japanese location, which other Tora-san films almost always did.

But such complaints are minor, and it's better to end this far too long review on a positive, and by comparing it to another film it reminded me of, in a way: Cinema Paradiso.

That's another one that's about nostalgia; about looking into one's past; about having a non-traditional father figure; about wondering about what a love could have blossomed into had it been able to grow. Also: Wish You Were Here has a somewhat similar montage near the end that is similarly tearjerking and bittersweet in the way Cinema Paradiso's famous climactic scene was. While the whole movie was emotional, it was the last 5-10 minutes of Wish You Were Here that were emotionally devastating in the best way possible.

This film was a close to perfect send off for the Tora-san series. There were problems here and there, but they essentially don't matter once you've come this far, and once you've fallen head over heels for the series.

Yoji Yamada (who directed 48/50 of the films), his cast, co-writers, and crew made something truly amazing with the Tora-san series, and though 50 films that mostly adhere to a strict formula is a tough sell, I couldn't recommend the experience more highly.

If I'm ever fortunate enough to travel internationally any time soon, and can make a trip to Japan, I'm going straight to Shibamata, Tokyo- Tora's home. To paraphrase this final film's title, I do truly wish I were there...