| Stage-Struck Tora-san | |
| Director: | Yoji Yamada |
| Starring: | Kiyoshi Atsumi Nana Kinomi |
| Music: | Naozumi Yamamoto |
| Cinematography: | Tetsuo Takaba |
| Editing: | Iwao Ishii |
| Distributor: | Shochiku |
| Runtime: | 107 minutes |
| Country: | Japan |
| Language: | Japanese |
aka Tora-san's Stage-Struck is a 1978 Japanese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō Kuruma (Tora-san), and Nana Kinomi as his love interest or "Madonna".[1] Stage-Struck Tora-san is the twenty-first entry in the popular, long-running Otoko wa Tsurai yo series.
Tora-san returns from his travels throughout Japan to his family's home in Tokyo to find his uncle recovering from an illness. After a family fight erupts, he returns to the road and becomes friends with Tomekichi. When the pair come to Tokyo, they both fall in love with stage dancers.[2] [3] [4]
Kiyoshi Atsumi was nominated for Best Actor at the Japan Academy Prize ceremony for his work in Stage-Struck Tora-san and the following film in the series, Talk of the Town Tora-san (also 1978). Yoji Yamada was also nominated for Best Director for these two films.[6]
Stuart Galbraith IV writes that Stage-Struck Tora-san is one of the weaker entries in the Otoko wa Tsurai yo series. He notes that co-star Tetsuya Takeda, a popular comic actor in Japan at the time, comes across as hammy in western eyes. According to Galbraith, the film works best as a nostalgic look at late-1970s popular culture. The opening dream segment is a spoof of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and there are references to Pink Lady as well as glimpses into Japan's economic situation of the era.[2] The German-language site molodezhnaja gives Stage-Struck Tora-san three out of five stars.[7]
Stage-Struck Tora-san was released theatrically on August 5, 1978.[8] In Japan, the film was released on videotape in 1996, and in DVD format in 2002 and 2005.[9]