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MADADAYO, Akira Kurosawa's 30th and final film, follows the life of an aging Japanese professor whose retirement coincides with the final years of World War II. Beloved by his former students, the professor often received them as guests in his home. That is, until his home is destroyed by an air raid. The students pool their resources and buy the professor and his wife a new house. In their new home, the couple gains a third member of the family, a stray cat named Nora, which the professor dotes on like a child. At one point, when Nora gets lost, a group of students dutifully search the city for the pet on behalf of their despondent professor. As the years go by, the students continue to hold annual birthday parties for their mentor. During these celebrations, they toast him with the question "Mahda-kai?" (meaning "Are you ready?" to go on to the next world), to which he humorously responds, "Madadayo," meaning "No, not yet." Based on the life of author and professor Hyakken Uchida, Kurosawa's last film is also somewhat autobiographical, echoing the final years of the revered filmmaker's own life. Tatsuo Matsumura plays the feisty yet sensitive professor with great gusto, while Kyôko Kagawa appears as his soft-spoken wife; other Kurosawa acting alumni play his enthusiastic and adoring students. A thoroughly sentimental film, MADADAYO is a touching meditation on life and its inevitable end.
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