Madadayo
1993 · 135 min
Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Written by Akira Kurosawa. Starring Tatsuo Matsumura, Kyōko Kagawa, Hisashi Igawa, George Tokoro.
In postwar Tokyo, beloved writer-professor Hyakken Uchida retires and is buoyed through hardship by the fierce devotion of his former students, who honor him each year with a raucous “Not yet!” birthday toast. Told in warm, gently comic vignettes, Kurosawa’s farewell celebrates aging, friendship, and the sustaining ritual of teacher and pupils refusing to say goodbye.
Critics 88% · audiences 81% · streaming on Criterion Channel