Movie Reveiw: Hachi

Hachi is a wonderful, poignant family movie about a lost dog and the man who finds him. Parker Wilson, known as Professor, finds a lost Akita puppy one day on his way home from work. The puppy has a tag with Japanese characters on it and when Parker is unable to locate his owner, he asks a close Japanese friend what the characters mean. He is told that the dog's name is Hachiko. Parker and his family decide to keep Hachi and gradually a strong bond is formed between man and dog.

Every day Parker catches the train into the city where he works as a professor at a college. Every day, despite Parker's attempts to prevent Hachi from doing so, the dog faithfully follows him to the train station and every night he returns to wait for Parker's arrival home. Gradually the two of them develop a strong bond that touches many of the people Parker knows.

One day, Hachi doesn't seem to be himself. Repeatedly he seems demonstrate that he doesn't want Parker to take the train to work. It is to be the last time the two are together and when Parker doesn't return home, Hachi continues his daily ritual of waiting at the train station for Parker to return.

Hachi is loosely based on the true story of Professor Ueno who died at work one day and whose Akita dog waited faithfully for nine years at the train station for his master to return. Eventually, the dog died.

The real Hachiko.

Be prepared because Hachi will make you cry. A beautiful, touching story of loyalty and friendship, this movie is a must for those who love animals, especially dogs. I'm not a fan of Richard Gere but he does a fine job in this movie. I would have loved to see Mark Harmon or Bruce Greenwood as Parker.

Check out the trailer:



And a clip just to make you cry: