Tora-san Loves an Artist

Tora-san Loves an Artist (男はつらいよ 私の寅さん) aka Tora-san Goes French is a 1973 Japanese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō Kuruma (Tora-san), and Keiko Kishi as his love interest or "Madonna". Tora-san Loves an Artist is the twelfth entry in the popular, long-running Otoko wa Tsurai yo series.

Synopsis
Tora-san watches the family shop while the rest of his family takes a vacation to Kyushu. An old friend introduces Tora-san to his sister Ritsuko, and he promptly falls in love with her. She is an artist and has no time for Tora-san.

Cast

 * Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō
 * Keiko Kishi as Ritsuko Yanagi
 * Takehiko Maeda as Fumihiko Yanagi
 * Chieko Baisho as Sakura
 * Tatsuo Matsumura as Ryūzō Azuma
 * Chieko Misaki as Tsune Kuruma (Torajiro's aunt)
 * Gin Maeda as Hiroshi Suwa
 * Hayato Nakamura as Mitsuo Suwa
 * Hisao Dazai as Boss (Umetarō Katsura)
 * Gajirō Satō as Genkō
 * Chishū Ryū as Gozen-sama

Critical appraisal
Stuart Galbraith IV calls Tora-san Loves an Artist a "solid" entry in the series, which is "alternately sweet and touching, funny and biting." The German-language site molodezhnaja gives Tora-san Loves an Artist three and a half out of five stars.

Availability
Tora-san Loves an Artist was released theatrically on December 16, 1973. In Japan, the film was released on videotape in 1995, and in DVD format in 2008.

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