| Tora-san Goes Religious? | |
| Director: | Yoji Yamada |
| Starring: | Kiyoshi Atsumi Keiko Takeshita |
| Music: | Naozumi Yamamoto |
| Cinematography: | Tetsuo Takaba |
| Editing: | Iwao Ishii |
| Distributor: | Shochiku |
| Runtime: | 105 minutes |
| Country: | Japan |
| Language: | Japanese |
aka Torasan Whistling[1] is a 1983 Japanese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō Kuruma (Tora-san), and Keiko Takeshita as his love interest or "Madonna".[2] Tora-san Goes Religious? is the thirty-second entry in the popular, long-running Otoko wa Tsurai yo series.
When his travels bring him to Western Japan, Tora-san decides to pay his respects to the late Hyoichiro Suwa, his sister's father-in-law. He gets drunk with the priest at the temple, falling in love with the priest's daughter in the process. When the priest is too hung-over to deliver a eulogy the next morning, Tora-san takes his place, with great success. Tora-san's sister and his brother-in-law's family show up for Hyoichiro Suwa's memorial service, and an argument breaks out over his estate.[3] [4]
Tora-san Goes Religious? was the fifth highest earning film at Japanese box-offices in 1984.[4] Stuart Galbraith IV ranks the film as one of the best in the series, noting that the "performances are excellent all-around". Galbraith observes that the film's storyline was probably inspired by the recent death of the great film actor Takashi Shimura who had played the role of the deceased Hyoichiro Suwa in three previous Otoko wa Tsurai yo films.[4] The German-language site molodezhnaja gives Tora-san Goes Religious? four out of five stars.[6]
Tora-san Goes Religious? had was released in theaters on December 28, 1983.[7]
In Japan, the film was released on videotape in 1987 and 1986, and in DVD format in 1998 and 2008.[8]