The Great Passage

The Great Passage is a 2013 Japanese drama film directed by Yuya Ishii, starring Ryuhei Matsuda as a dictionary editor. It is based on the best-selling novel by Shion Miura. The film won several awards, including the Japan Academy Prize for Picture of the Year, and also received several nominations. It was selected as the Japanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.

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Plot

Mitsuya Majime is an unsuccessful and introverted publishing salesman. But his love of reading and dedication, as well as a post-graduate degree in linguistics, catches the eyes of Masashi Nishioka and Kouhei Araki, dictionary editors in his company who are seeking a replacement for Araki himself, as his wife is sick and he would like to spend more time looking after her.
With Majime on the editing team, the group plans to produce a new dictionary called "Daitokai" which would bridge the gap between people and the sea of words and would take years to complete.
Back at his home, the Sou-Un-Sou Rooming House, Majime meets Kaguya Hayashi, his landlady's granddaughter who has just returned from culinary school. He is struck by her beauty. Upon discovering this, the chief editor Matsumoto asks Majime to write the definition for the word "Love".

Cast

Ryuhei Matsuda as Mitsuya Majime
Aoi Miyazaki as Kaguya Hayashi
Joe Odagiri as Masashi Nishioka
Kaoru Kobayashi as Kohei Araki
Go Kato as Tomosuke Matsumoto
Haru Kuroki as Midori Kishibe
Misako Watanabe as Take
Chizuru Ikewaki as Remi Miyoshi
Shingo Tsurumi as Murakoshi
Hiroko Isayama as Kaoru Sasaki
Kaoru Yachigusa as Chie Matsumoto
Kazuki Namioka as Editor
Kumiko Asō as Actress

Reception

Critical response

The Great Passage received generally favorable reviews from critics. Yvonne Teh of South China Morning Post gave the film 4 and a half out of 5 stars. James Hadfield of Time Out Tokyo gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, saying "Yuya Ishii's tale of a dictionary maker in love is genuinely charming." Screen International's Mark Adams writes that, "The film pays affectionate – and even old-fashioned – tribute to the world of words and dictionaries, while also finding space for a tender and slow-paced romance that would be out-of-step for a contemporary story." Gary Goldstein of Los Angeles Times gave the film a favorable review, noting that "it's the power of words to enlighten and connect us that remains the constant and gives this charming film its special place on the shelf."