Tora-san's Tropical Fever

104 minutesCountryJapanLanguageJapanese

Tora-san's Tropical Fever (男はつらいよ 寅次郎ハイビスカスの花, Otoko wa Tsurai yo: Torajirō Haibisukasu no Hana)^[1] aka Torasan Goes to Hisbiscus Land^[2] is a 1980 Japanese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō Kuruma (Tora-san), and Ruriko Asaoka as his love interest or "Madonna".^[3] Tora's Tropical Fever is the twenty-fifth entry in the popular, long-running Otoko wa Tsurai yo series.

Shochiku theatrically released a Special Edition version to theaters in 1997. It used computer graphics to add Hidetaka Yoshioka (who played Tora-san's nephew in the later films) to the story in added scenes.

Plot

Lily, the lounge singer with whom Tora-san fell in love in film 11 (Tora-san's Forget Me Not, 1973) and film 15 (Tora-san's Rise and Fall, 1975) sends Tora-san a letter informing him that she is terminally ill. Tora-san rushes to Okinawa—taking his first plane trip in the process—to be at her side and nurse her to health.^[4][5][6]

Cast

• Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō^[7]
• Chieko Baisho as Sakura
• Ruriko Asaoka as Lily
• Masami Shimojō as Kuruma Tatsuzō
• Chieko Misaki as Tsune Kuruma (Torajiro's aunt)
• Gin Maeda as Hiroshi Suwa
• Hisao Dazai as Boss (Umetarō Katsura)
• Hayato Nakamura as Mitsuo Suwa
• Gajirō Satō as Genkō
• Suzuko Aragaki as Kaori Yamazato

Critical appraisal

Writer-director Yoji Yamada reportedly considers Tora's Tropical Fever his own favorite of the Otoko wa Tsurai yo series films.^[6] The Japan Academy awarded Yamada and co-writer Yoshitaka Asama Best Screenplay for the film. Chieko Baisho was also given the Best Actress award, and Kiyoshi Atsumi was nominated for Best Actor at the ceremony.^[8] The German-language site molodezhnaja gives Tora's Tropical Fever four out of five stars, naming it one of the highlights of the series.^[9] Stuart Galbraith IV judges the film "one of the best of the series", and a "delight in every respect: it's funny, sad, and perceptive about human nature".^[6]

Availability

Tora-san's Tropical Fever was released theatrically on August 2, 1980.^[10] In Japan, the film was released on videotape in 1996 and 1998, and in DVD format in 2008.^[11]

References

Bibliography

English

• "OTOKO WA TSURAI YO TORAJIRO HIBISCUS NO HANA (1980)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 2012-10-17. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
• "OTOKO WA TSURAIYO -TORAJIRO HAIBISUKASU NO HANA". Complete Index to World Film. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
• Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro haibisukasu no hana (1980) at IMDb
• Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro haibisukasu no hana tokubetsu-hen (1997) at IMDb
• Galbraith IV, Stuart (2006-02-24). "Tora-san 25: Tora-san's Tropical Fever (Region 3)". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2010-01-21.

German

• "Tora-San's Tropical Fever" (in German). www.molodezhnaja.ch. Retrieved 2010-01-21.

Japanese

• 男はつらいよ 寅次郎ハイビスカスの花 (1980) (in Japanese). allcinema.net. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
• "男はつらいよ 寅次郎ハイビスカスの花". Japanese Cinema Database (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
• 男はつらいよ 寅次郎ハイビスカスの花 (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
• 男はつらいよ 寅次郎ハイビスカスの花 (in Japanese). Kinema Junpo. Archived from the original on 2012-03-09. Retrieved 2010-01-21.

External links

• Tora's Tropical Fever Archived 2014-07-29 at the Wayback Machine at www.tora-san.jp (official site)