Hachiko

We try to keep Friday night as family movie night. It's hard with everything else going on, but tonight we managed it. We watched Hachio: A Dog's Tale, a 2009 US remake of the Japanese 1987 film, Hachiko Monogatari, which in turn is based on the true story set in 1920s Japan. 

Hachiko was a dog who went with his owner, Professor Ueno, to Shibuya Station every morning and waited there till he came back from work. One day, the professor died suddenly at work but the dog loyally waited for him at the station each day for nearly ten years, until he too died (in 1935). Everyone knows about Hachiko in Japan. There's a statue outside the station which commemorates 'man's best friend'; it's the most popular place for meeting people in Shibuya. I often used to meet friends there.

Anyway, we watched the Hollywood remake, re-set in Anytown USA, with Richard Gere as the latter day professor. The humans were awful, including Gere who was embarrassingly bad, but the dog - or rather dogs (puppy, middle-age, elderly) - were good. Question: has an animal ever been nominated for an Oscar?