Not Yet ( Madadayo )

Not Yet (DVD) (*)

Out of Stock

Original Title: Madadayo
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
Japanese ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
134 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.78:1)

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 1993 and produced in:
Japan ( India, Eastern Asia )

Directed By:
Akira Kurosawa

Written By:
Akira Kurosawa
Hyakken Uchida

Actors:
Tatsuo Matsumura ..... Professor Hyakken Uchida
KyÃ´ko Kagawa ..... Professor's Wife
Hisashi Igawa ..... Takayama
JÃ´ji Tokoro ..... Amaki
Masayuki Yui ..... Kiriyama
Akira Terao ..... Sawamura
Takeshi Kusaka ..... Dr. Kobayashi
Asei Kobayashi ..... Rev. Kameyama
Hidetaka Yoshioka ..... Takayama's son
Yoshitaka Zushi ..... Neighbor
Mitsuru Hirata ..... Tada
Nobuto Okamoto ..... Ã”ta
Tetsu Watanabe
Norio Matsui
Murohide Sugizaki

Synopsis:

The main story of the film is based on the life of a Japanese academic and author, Hyakken Uchida (1889-1971). The film opens with him resigning as a professor of German, in the period immediately before the Second World War. The plot of the film is centered around his relationship with his former students, who care for him in his old age. The title, 'Not Yet' in English, is an allusion to an ancient Japanese legend mentioned in one scene of the film, of an old man who refuses to die. This story is constantly referred to in the movie, as every year on the professor's birthday, his students throw him a party in which they all ask him, "Mada kai?" ("Are you ready?"). He responds by drinking a large ceremonial glass of beer and shouting "Mada dayo!" ("Not yet!"), implying that death may be near, but life still goes on!

In a pre-WWII Tokyo, the professor of German Hyakken Uchida (Tatsuo Matsumura) decides to retire after thirty years of professorship, and dedicate to the career of writer. His students, some of them from different generations, love him and keep a close touch with the professor and his wife (Kyôko Kagawa) along his life. In 1943, the house of the professor is bombed, he loses all his possessions and moves to a simple gardener cottage. After the war, his former students build a new small house with a lake around, and every year along seventeen years, in the professor's birthday, they have a reunion with a funny ceremony, based on children's hide and seek and referring if the professor is ready to die. They ask the professor: '-Mahda-kai?' ('Are you ready?'), and the professor responds '-Madadayo!' ('Not yet?') and drinks a large glass of beer.

This film tells the story of professor Uehida Hyakken-sama (1889-1971), in Gotemba, around the forties. He was a university professor until an air raid, when he left to become a writer and has to live in a hut. His mood has hardly changed, not by the change nor by time. Every year his students celebrate his birthday, issuing the question 'Mahda kai?' (not yet?), just to hear Uehida-san's answer 'Madada yo!' (No, not yet!), in a ritual of self affirmation, and desires of lasting forever. It's a very 'japanese' film who portrays everyday life and customs in Japan.

This product was added to our catalog on Thursday 01 March, 2012.

Customers who bought this product also purchased

The Twin (Blu-Ray)	Love One Another / The Bride of Glomdal (Blu-Ray)	Master of the House (DVD)
Once Upon a Time (1922) (DVD)	Drunken Angel (DVD)	Early Kurosawa Collection - 4-DVD Box Set (DVD)