Maadadayo

The film is based on the life of a Japanese academic and author Hyakken Uchida in the period immediately before the Second World War. The plot is centered on his relationship with his former students, who care for him in his old age. The title is an allusion to an ancient Japanese legend mentioned in one scene of an old man who refuses to die. Every year his students celebrate his birthday, issuing the question «Mada kai?» («Are you ready?»). He responds by drinking a large ceremonial glass of beer and shouting «Mada dayo!» («Not yet!»), implying that death may be near, but life still goes on.
This swansong, partly autobiographic, completed by Kurosawa at the age of 83, shows, in his own words, «an enviable world of kindness». A surreal background of the final titles was painted by the Director himself.

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