Tora-san Plays Cupid

Tora-san Plays Cupid
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Yoji Yamada
Written by	Yoji Yamada Yoshitaka Asama
Starring	Kiyoshi Atsumi Shiho Fujimura
Cinematography	Tetsuo Takaba
Edited by	Iwao Ishii
Music by	Naozumi Yamamoto
Distributed by	Shochiku
Release date	December 29, 1977
Running time	95 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Tora-san Plays Cupid (男はつらいよ 寅次郎頑張れ!, Otoko wa Tsurai yo: Torajirō Gambare!) aka Tora-san, Hold Out! is a 1977 Japanese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō Kuruma (Tora-san), and Shiho Fujimura as his love interest or "Madonna". Tora-san Plays Cupid is the twentieth entry in the popular, long-running Otoko wa Tsurai yo series.

Synopsis

Tora-san plays at matchmaker, trying to arrange a romance between Ryōsuke and Sachiko. His advice proves disastrous and Tora-san instead falls in love with Ryōsuke's sister.

Cast

• Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō
• Chieko Baisho as Sakura
• Shiho Fujimura as Fujiko Shimada
• Masatoshi Nakamura as Ryōsuke Shimada
• Shinobu Otake as Sachiko Fukumura
• Masami Shimojō as Kuruma Tatsuzō
• Chieko Misaki as Tsune Kuruma (Torajiro's aunt)
• Gin Maeda as Hiroshi Suwa
• Hayato Nakamura as Mitsuo Suwa
• Hisao Dazai as Boss (Umetarō Katsura)
• Gajirō Satō as Genkō

Critical appraisal

Kiyoshi Atsumi was nominated for Best Actor at the Japan Academy Prize ceremony for his performances in Tora-san Plays Cupid, Tora-san Meets His Lordship and Yatsuhaka-mura (all 1977). Chieko Baisho was also nominated for Best Actress and Shinobu Otake for Best Supporting Actress at the same ceremony. Stuart Galbraith IV judges the film to be another good entry in the Otoko wa Tsurai yo series, funny and with a strong supporting cast. The German-language site molodezhnaja gives Tora-san Plays Cupid three and a half out of five stars.

Availability

Tora-san Plays Cupid was released theatrically on December 29, 1977. In Japan, the film was released on videotape in 1996, and in DVD format in 1998, 2002, and 2008.