Review of Madadayo

This is a beautiful movie. It is slow and deep rather than fast and shallow. It explores the relationships between a teacher and his students as he moves on from teaching to writing to retirement and they move into adulthood and parenthood. During this time they face the extreme challenges of World War II and its aftermath. But, at its core, the movie is not about the war. It is about the stability he presents to his students. He seems to behave in the same easy-going, confident manner, no matter how dire the circumstances. It is also about the way rolls eventually change: the students at first are nurtured by the teacher, but over time they begin to care about and then care for him. Most of us, or at least the lucky among us, have had good natured teachers that always seem to be able to get the best of their students. This is such a teacher. The scene depicting his 'foolproof' method for handling burglars is alone reason enough to watch the film. I recommend this movie and, if you like it, I recommend 'Ikiru' and the Japanese version of 'Shall We Dance'.