Poppoya
- 1999
- 1h 52m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
1.5K
YOUR RATING
The touching reminiscing of an elderly railroad-station manager is interrupted by the sudden appearance of some good-natured girls.The touching reminiscing of an elderly railroad-station manager is interrupted by the sudden appearance of some good-natured girls.The touching reminiscing of an elderly railroad-station manager is interrupted by the sudden appearance of some good-natured girls.
- Awards
- 22 wins & 6 nominations total
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
I just watched this tonight and had to get it from Hong Kong, via Ebay. I don't agree with the last reviewer, though I recognise the comments about values of the past. That is kind of the point. The movie establishes Sato, the railroader, as a sympathetic character. He's not as cold as his exterior: he does grieve for his wife and his daughter, he does show affection and care for the girls and for his colleague etc. He is criticised and there is a constant theme about how he feels he cannot change. The fact that he should have done this or that differently makes us think about what he should or should not have done.
I found the film touching and thought that it was shot well and had a pretty decent plot. The revelation of the plot at the end was a bit of clumsy exposition, but the movie has heart and I am willing to forgive it.
I found the film touching and thought that it was shot well and had a pretty decent plot. The revelation of the plot at the end was a bit of clumsy exposition, but the movie has heart and I am willing to forgive it.
For many people this will be an emotional movie. I was one of them. It is a story of duty taking precedence over family. Unfortunately I know the situation intimately due to conflicts between military service and family. Like the station master I chose duty at the expense of family. The story of what his daughter would have been like is told over several episodes. First as a grade schooler, then a teenager and finally as a young adult. I found myself thinking the same thing - how would my child have developed. It was profoundly moving. You also see the respect that others had for the station master. It came from young railway men and fellow towns people old alike. The concluding scenes were as moving as any of the others in the film.
For train buffs, the steam engines are excellent and even the 1 car diesels are good. In my part of Japan the diesels are quite common.
Hokkaido is a place where towns are dying and railways are disappearing as the movie alludes to. I am writing this in a hotel lobby in Sapporo, Hokkaido, in weather similar to the movie. It has an added touch of reality.
I recommend this film to all who have an interest in Japan and life in the far north.
For train buffs, the steam engines are excellent and even the 1 car diesels are good. In my part of Japan the diesels are quite common.
Hokkaido is a place where towns are dying and railways are disappearing as the movie alludes to. I am writing this in a hotel lobby in Sapporo, Hokkaido, in weather similar to the movie. It has an added touch of reality.
I recommend this film to all who have an interest in Japan and life in the far north.
What more can I say about this movie the other reviewers have already said better. I just watched this movie on TV as a special presentation on one of the local foreign language TV stations here in Los Angeles. If you ever get a chance to see this movie, see it.
It has wonderful understated acting, direct but subtle writing, and beautiful cinematography. This is the perfect antidote to the summer blockbuster.
It has wonderful understated acting, direct but subtle writing, and beautiful cinematography. This is the perfect antidote to the summer blockbuster.
10Kahuna-6
Must had cried for a thousand miles. Watching a movie on a 6" screen trapped in a coach seat at 30,000 ft high is usually a diversion not a pleasurable entertainment. But strangely enough, this simple 3 hankie movie is both engaging and moving.
A railway man works at the end of a desolated railway line, at the end of his career, at the end of his life. Nothing much happens. He does his job at the one man station faithfully. He greets the old familiar commuters with the station name, shovels snow off the platform, sends the train off with a ritualistic check list. He did this almost all his life with the same mechanical precision. He had a family once. His daughter died at a very young age and more recently his wife died.
The lonely widower had a few visitors on New Year Eve. And the news were not feastive. The little town, with the younger population migrating to bigger places, would probably die of old age. The rail line, facing declining traffic and increasing loss, will be closed. And he would have to vacate the station which was also his home for most of his life.
The director, Yasuo Furuhata, handles the story with sensitivity and humility. The occasional high camera or wide angle shots only accentuates the isolation. Cutting is excellent. Scenes are allowed to sustain poignancy without allowing distraction. Quick cuts are used to enforce the ritual routine with precision. The bare story line & minimal dialogue was not a handicap. The use of flashbacks in fact creates beautiful characterisation without unnecessary ornamentation. The old method of using colour tone to delineate time events was very effective here. In one particular scene shot from a static camera position flowed with a continuous action shifted over time just by the use of colour. Seamless, masterly.
How did veteran lead Ken Takakura win so much empathy for his part is really a mystery. No strut, quiet body and very little facial expression. Yet he involves us in the internal conflicts of the character. When he said "no regrets" over the choices he had made in his career, the price he had to pay and the sadness he felt is palpable.
Don't believe a word I say. Just go watch the movie.
A railway man works at the end of a desolated railway line, at the end of his career, at the end of his life. Nothing much happens. He does his job at the one man station faithfully. He greets the old familiar commuters with the station name, shovels snow off the platform, sends the train off with a ritualistic check list. He did this almost all his life with the same mechanical precision. He had a family once. His daughter died at a very young age and more recently his wife died.
The lonely widower had a few visitors on New Year Eve. And the news were not feastive. The little town, with the younger population migrating to bigger places, would probably die of old age. The rail line, facing declining traffic and increasing loss, will be closed. And he would have to vacate the station which was also his home for most of his life.
The director, Yasuo Furuhata, handles the story with sensitivity and humility. The occasional high camera or wide angle shots only accentuates the isolation. Cutting is excellent. Scenes are allowed to sustain poignancy without allowing distraction. Quick cuts are used to enforce the ritual routine with precision. The bare story line & minimal dialogue was not a handicap. The use of flashbacks in fact creates beautiful characterisation without unnecessary ornamentation. The old method of using colour tone to delineate time events was very effective here. In one particular scene shot from a static camera position flowed with a continuous action shifted over time just by the use of colour. Seamless, masterly.
How did veteran lead Ken Takakura win so much empathy for his part is really a mystery. No strut, quiet body and very little facial expression. Yet he involves us in the internal conflicts of the character. When he said "no regrets" over the choices he had made in his career, the price he had to pay and the sadness he felt is palpable.
Don't believe a word I say. Just go watch the movie.
A particularly Japanese take on duty and responsibility, Ken Takakura is a trainman at a rural train station. Sad, poignant, but ultimately redeeming of the choices he has had to make in order to fulfill his chosen occupation, if you are looking for action of any sort go elsewhere. This is a character drama and an excellent one. If all you know of Takekura is 'Mr. Baseball' and 'Black Rain' then you ought to see him in a role which allows him to demonstrate his strengths as an actor, delivering an amazing performance with very little overt emoting.
Did you know
- TriviaHoromai is a fictional train station. Scenes were actually filmed at Ikutora Station, in Sorachi sub-prefecture, Hokkaido. This station - which still displays its fictitious, film name over the front entrance - is often visited by fans, who can see photos and props related to the making of the movie displayed in the waiting room and also board a preserved section of the train which featured prominently in the film.
- Quotes
Otomatsu Sato: This town is more like an old people's home.
- SoundtracksTennessee Waltz
- How long is The Railroad Man?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- The Railroad Man
- Filming locations
- Ikutora, Minamifurano, Sorachi, Hokkaido, Japan(trainstation)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content