Synopsis

​ Otto, a railroad worker who has guarded Horomai Station his entire life. One day, about two months after the birth of their daughter, Yukiko, his wife, who had gone to the hospital to take the child with a sudden fever, returned with the cold body of her daughter, and Otto's heart grew deeply wounded as he watched his daughter die. And when his wife Shizue falls ill again and is hospitalized in a large hospital, Otto remains at the station, leaving his wife alone to watch over him. On New Year's morning, when he is about to retire. A strange girl greets him.

Program Note

​ Railroad Man is a film directed by Yasuo Furuhata based on the short story from Asada Jiro's short collection. Ken Takakura, known for his role in 47 Ronin, returned to the screen to portray Oto, an aging railway stationmaster on the verge of retirement. The director's attention to this stationmaster lies in the fact that Oto is a person abandoned by his time. Despite quietly fulfilling his duties, the station he works at is destined to disappear and all that remains for Oto is memories. Sakamoto's theme song of the same name gained significant popularity on the Oricon chart. (Huh Namwoong)

Director

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  • Yasuo Furuhata
  • In 1957, Furuhata entered Toei Studios Tokyo after graduating from University of Tokyo. He debuted as director in 1966 with Hiko-Shojyo Yoko. At the same year, he directed Glorious Fights which starred Ken Takakura. He sent out masterpieces into the world together with Ken Takakura, such as the New Abashiri Prison series, Flower of Winter(1978), Station(1981), Love(1983) and Buddies(1989). In 1999, after a 10 years from their last collaboration, they released Poppoya-Railroad Man-(1999). Moreover, Ken Takakura won the Best Actor Award at Montreal World Film Festival for his role in the film. In Yimou Zhang's Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles(2006) featuring Ken Takakura, he directed the Japanese location shots.