| Tora's Pure Love | |
| Director: | Yoji Yamada |
| Starring: | Kiyoshi Atsumi Machiko Kyō |
| Music: | Naozumi Yamamoto |
| Cinematography: | Tetsuo Takaba |
| Editing: | Iwao Ishii |
| Distributor: | Shochiku |
| Runtime: | 103 minutes |
| Country: | Japan |
| Language: | Japanese |
a.k.a. Torasan Meets his School-Mates[1] and Tora-san's Heart of Gold is a 1976 Japanese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō Kuruma (Tora-san), and Machiko Kyō as his love interest or "Madonna".[2] Tora's Pure Love is the eighteenth entry in the popular, long-running Otoko wa Tsurai yo series, and was Machiko Kyō's penultimate film appearance.
When Tora-san's infatuation with his nephew's school teacher causes family turmoil, he leaves on his travels again. When he returns, he falls in love with the teacher's mother, who has a terminal illness.[3] [4] [5]
Tora's Pure Love was the sixth top-grossing Japanese film of 1976.[3] However, Stuart Galbraith IV writes that the film is disappointing in comparison with the previous Tora-san's Sunrise and Sunset (also 1976), more sentimental and less well-plotted than the earlier film. Galbraith judges Tora's Pure Love nevertheless to be funny, and enjoyable for the scenes between series star Kiyoshi Atsumi and actress Machiko Kyō in one of her last appearances.[3] The German-language site molodezhnaja gives Tora's Pure Love three and a half out of five stars.[7]
Tora's Pure Love was released theatrically on December 25, 1976.[8] In Japan, the film was released on videotape in 1996, and in DVD format in 1999 and 2008.[9]