Thursday, July 23, 2009

Hachiko (and other dog movies)

TOKYO (AP) - Richard Gere stars in a Hollywood remake of Japan's long-cherished story of Hachiko, a faithful dog that died at a train station waiting for its master. But "Hachi: A Dog's Story" is more about the dog than about Gere, the 59-year-old actor said Wednesday.

"On this movie, I was definitely second-class," he told reporters at a Tokyo hotel.

The movie premiered in the U.S. at the Seattle International Film Festival in June, and opens in Japan in August.

The story of Hachiko [ is a legend among Japanese, a pet-loving nation that honors self-sacrificing loyalty.

Hachiko, the story goes, always used to wait at Shibuya train station for its master, a professor at the University of Tokyo.

Even after the professor died, the dog waited every day at the station for a decade, until it died in 1935.

People were so moved they built a statue of Hachiko at the station, which remains a popular rendezvous spot for Japanese today.

*** [12/29/13]

Hachi is currently on Netflix.  Another Japanese dog movie is Quill: the life of a guide dog.  Another happy/sad movie.  And more movies like Hachi.

And be sure to check out the 100 dog movies reviewed by crox.  (Well, maybe not.)

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