Always - Sunset on Third Street (2005)

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Does a wonderful job of giving the viewer a look at what life in 1958 Tokyo was like. Likable characters, believable situations, and terrific recreation of a period neighbourhood.The atmosphere is spot-on as is the 'mood' of the people, and they must have raided every antiques shop, not to mention more than a few museums to produce several of the scenes. There's what has to be one of the most memorable scenes involving something which doesn't exist that I can recall. Won't say more for fear of spoiling it, but it worked beautifully in context.There's even mostly happy endings, though they do set up the possibility of a sequel and now that I know there is one, I'm very much looking forward to seeing it.

While Takashi Yamazaki may be guilty of manipulation in wringing out the nostalgia-induced sentimentality off his viewers' hearts and eyes, it's not like those potential tears are totally undeserved in the oh-so romantic rendering of a bygone Tokyo. "Always - Sunset on Third Street," adapted from Ryohei Saigan's manga, has all the adornment of schmaltz as it follows a number of the Tokyo working class in 1958 as, following the war and backdropped by a being rebuilt Tokyo Tower, they steadily struggle through their lives to a better future. Yamazaki, though, roots his film in an innocent glorification of the community striving for a common goal as seen through warm sepia tones and golden hues.Among the multitude of the characters, Mutsuno Hoshino (Maki Horikita, who I just have to say remains as one of my favorite Japanese actors) is a recent junior high graduate who goes to Tokyo dreaming of a job at a prestigious automobile company only to find herself working as a repair woman in a car repair shop owned by Norifumi Suzuki (Shin'ichi Tsutsumi). Across the street is Ryunosuke Chagawa (Hidetaka Yoshioka), a candy shop owner struggling to make it as a serious novelist and makes up for his literary shortcomings by regularly submitting juvenile stories for a boys' magazine. Hiromi Ishizaki (Koyuki), a sake bar owner with a shady past, receives Junnosuke (Kenta Suka), a boy abandoned by his single mother, to be left in her care and, in turn, she leaves the boy to Ryunosuke.Taking place in a broadly idealistic and exaggeratedly whimsical parallel reality, Yamazaki may often succumb to contrived melodramatic trappings and a few missed comedic notes, yet his relentlessly effervescent tale possesses absorbing set pieces and a contagious joie de vivre none so more affectingly displayed by the film's closing shot. An unabashedly giddy fairy tale, "Always" is an ode and a love letter to the city's halcyon days as shared by its inhabitants who are slowly rising from its past and, slowly but surely, to the age of TV, refrigerator, and Coca-Cola.

I had the chance to watch 'Always san-chôme no yûhi' at the movies while being on a longer trip to Japan in 2005 and I immediately liked it. The combination of sweet nostalgia coupled with modern CG images works extremely well in this movie, especially since most of the time they don't overdo it with overly schmaltzy scenes.The one exception being the subplot of 'rich but cold guy tries to take away child from poor but caringly guy', which is also why I refuse to award it the full 10 points.Still, 9 out of 10 is an excellent score, and this movie deserves it. It's one of those rare movies, that makes you walk out of the cinema feeling happy and a little bit of gooey inside. And it even manages to do so without giving us a complete happy ending!

This piece of great film work took Japan by storm, and once I saw it realized why it had turned out that way. The film is immensely nostalgic and filled with bits of memorable moments that would send you bursting out with laughter while tears are still continuing to fill up your eyes.The plot is austerely simple, yet the characters are smartly introduced and thoroughly elaborated. It's ultimately easy for us to believe that the Third Street community and those characters are real. The relationships between them are reasonably developed and eventually leads to a powerful and heart-wrenching-yet-warmly ending.This is not a regular tear-jerker. Emotional scenes are not forced in as in any other movies, but effectively and strategically put into the right places, resulting in a gradual and natural emotional building.The music and photography are flawless, and tremendously help with the holistic ambiance of the film. Acting is also impeccable.Truly a worth-seeing gem for movie lovers. Another delicate Asian craft which has all the qualities that Hollywood mainstream movies still lack of.