Six dreamers, one chaotic city, and a private detective who can't stop playing matchmaker.
The story tells of Tsuchiya, a university professor and a widower who is in love with a widow who runs a small restaurant, and his son is in love with a runaway girl who turns out to be the leader of a religious sect. Kusano is the henpecked proprietor of a rice biscuit shop who dreams of owning a bird and dog shop and his daughter is in love with a boarder, employed by the private detective agency searching for the runaway girl. The agency head has his own dream of arranging thirty marriages and has already accomplished twenty-seven. Tatsumi is a newspaper reporter who dreams of a big scoop to enable him to marry a girl TV producer and his friend a mountain climbing enthusiast who dreams of joining a Himalayan expedition but is opposed by his wife. His love of the mountains is shared by a boarder in their home and by a fishmonger's son.
Writing
Nimble juggling of six plotlines without dropping a single emotional beat.
Acting
Keiji Sada's weary warmth as a man learning to want again.
Director
Yoshiaki Banshō
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made during Japan's economic miracle, the film gently mocks the gap between postwar aspiration and reality.
Director Yoshiaki Banshō was better known for documentaries; this rare fiction outing keeps that observational eye.
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