Were the family cruel in how they treated the dog? Could the daughter really have done that? E-mail your thoughts to and I will add them here.
Where does it rank in your all time favourite movie list. How did it effect you? What did you think of the pace. I found it almost theraputic to write about it and would love to put your thoughts on the film here. If you've seen the film I would hazard a guess you saw the ending through misty eyes.
Some people believe Akitas can 'talk' using a series of grunts, groans and mumbles distinct from normal growling.The dogs can cost up to £1,000 in Britain.Adult males - significantly stronger than females - can weigh up to 9st (57kg) and stand up to 70cm (28ins) in height.'This was not simply a story about a dog, but of abiding devotion between a man and woman, parent and child, individual and country, and cut across cultural, racial and sexual divides.' - Vicki Shigekuni Wong (Co-Producer) It is billed as a 'family film' but it is so much more than that. It is the one film I would have no hesitation in recommending to everybody. Suffice to say, the whole movie is done in a beautiful, simple, poetic way but it is the final 30 minutes or so which really grabs you. You will know it, and like me, won't forget it.īelow, I have put what happens up to a certain point in the movie as it would be unfair to those who haven't been fortunate enough to see it to describe it all. If you watch the movie I bet you will know that moment immediately. There is a moment in this movie, near the end, that, in my opinion, will become part of film folklore in time.
It took years, the advent of TV appearing in the sitting rooms of the world, and repeating the movie for Wonderful Life to enter the consciousness of popular culture while Hachi is well-known it is not on that level. I do think in years to come this film will be regarded with the same affection as It's A Wonderful Life. It is intoxicating and perhaps it is because so many of us spend our lives looking for this combination and not finding it that makes so many of us miserable and depressed.
Hachi the dog teaches you a fundamental lesson - the spiritual force beyond words that is the power of love and loyalty. It is one of those few films that makes you think of life in a different way. To see things how he sees things, from his perspective, the world from dog level, gives you the kind of connection with the character that is rare in other movies. One of the reasons I think that the film is so powerful is because some of it is told through the eyes of the dog. I love the dog, the Akita breed which, of course, Hachi comes from, most of the characters (Gere's wife in the movie, Joan Allen is the exception but she is crucial to the drama and is the perfect counterpoint to the film tipping into sentimentality). It leaves you with an emptiness in your heart and a sorrow yet overwhelming admiration for Hachi. Yes, it's that powerful, that poetic & that emotional. I've seen 50+ year old hardened men break down in tears seeing it people who have no real affection with dogs with tears in their eyes. How did that happen? It's the story - the way the turn of events go, gently leading you to tears. It's beguiling gentle pace allows you to absorb the central premise without you even noticing until at the key points you find yourself teary-eyed. This simple enchanting film enscapulates this message in the way the story is told and not with heavy symbolic touches which so many films do. Not because I'm a big dog lover in particularly but because of the central message of the film. I'm writing this review with tears in my eyes thinking about Hachi - A Dog's Tale (Hachiko), a film originally released in 2009.