Madadayo is Japanese for "not yet", something you hear quite a lot of in this movie and our main character is Hyakken Uchida who in fact was a real-life professor and writer and is played majestically by Tatsuo Matsumura, Uchida decides to retire from teaching to start writing full time and all this in a time of war and social change in Japan. His students are in awe of him and show utmost respect and loyalty to him in his decision. As a sign of respect to their sensei they throw a birthday party each year for him and cry out the words "Maadha kai?" ("Are you ready?") To which the old man replies "Madadayo!" ("Not yet!"). Uchida celebrates this by drinking down a large glass of beer to the cheers of his loyal students.

In the turmoil of war, Uchida's beautiful home is destroyed which forces him and his loyal wife to live in a basic shed, with only his books and writing table as comfort, never do we hear Uchida complain or get pulled down by the events going on around him he simply carries on with his life and his students carry on to show love and respect. His students make it their business to re-house their mentor and build him another house so he can enjoy the remaining years of his life in peace and comfort. Something you will note about this movie is that we never really find out about the lives of his students, even though they are with him to his end, but yet in a time where we all need-to-know and closure is everything, it never seems to bother the viewer that this somewhat important information is left out, none the less it does not detract from the enjoyment to be had from this movie and there was obviously many suggestive undertones played out in this script.

Madadayo really has so many layers and you may find watching this just once is not enough, simply because Kurosawa in his most brilliant has giving us in Madadayo a rather thought provoking movie. There is no murder, no crime, no hate, no swearing…..in fact the most dramatic moment is the loss of sensei's pet cat, which stretches out for a very long time and in any other movie would seem ludicrous but here it just works so well and many people have written about this scene and its real meaning. So many scenes stood out for me in this movie one in particular which always makes me laugh is when Uchida places a sign outside his home warning passers-by not to urinate on his wall, and he places a sign of a pair of scissors around groin height.

Many critics said Madadayo was slow and complained about the sentimentality in this movie, and many have said the film was to focused on Uchida's character and not of the people around him. It is commonly thought Uchida is Kurosawa and this is a reflection of his life and the happiness he achieved through doing what he truly loved to do. Sometimes we can try to dig to deep and loose sight of what it is we are seeing. I am sure Kurosawa was trying to say something and I am still trying to put all the pieces together and each time I watch this movie I find another thing to love about it.

But the memory the viewer is left with is of complete devotion and love from his students who are with him till the moment he dies, one student remarks " sensei, you are a lump of gold without impurities" and this is how I would sum up this movie. Perhaps this was meant for Kurosawa's loyal band of followers and I can certainly say that it would not suit most, it is subtleness in its purest form and is moving poetry.

by Paul Swainson
http://www.misogi.com.au