I for one got quite teary about it for some reason. The 2009 film offers a modern American twist to the tale, but the same pathos and emotion are fully on display. In March 2011, scientists finally settled the cause of death of Hachiko: the dog had both terminal cancer and a filaria infection. Hachiko died on Maat the age of 11 based on his date of birth. The professor had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, while he was giving a lecture, and died without ever returning to the train station in which Hachiko would wait.Įach day, for the next nine years, nine months and fifteen days, Hachiko awaited Ueno’s return, appearing precisely when the train was due at the station… The pair continued the daily routine until May 1925, when Ueno did not return. Ueno would commute daily to work, and Hachiko would leave the house to greet him at the end of each day at the nearby Shibuya Station. In 1924, Hidesaburo Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo, took Hachiko, a golden brown Akita, as a pet. It is based on a real life dog Hachiko in Japan. So it was a heart-breaking story of a fiercely loyal dog who eventually died while waiting for his owner to get off the next train. While we can tell an adult or even a child about the death of someone, we cannot reason with a dog. Whether rain or snow or hail or sun, the dog was there every day, waiting patiently for his beloved master. It was too painful to think about a dog so loyal to his master that he spent the next ten years after his death waiting every day for him to return at a train station. I am not sure about others, but I at least got quite choked up about it for some reason. I did not watch it all for at least two reasons: one, life is busy and I don’t often watch entire movies, and two, it was a real tear-jerker. It is based on a true story of a dog whose loyalty to his master, even long after he died, has amazed so many. Hachi: A Dog’s Tale is a 2009 film starring Richard Gere.
Later in the film Antonia watches as Hachi once again arrives at the train station to wait.Lessons from who? OK, I never heard of Hachi either until last night when I watched a few minutes of a movie on television.
The American Humane Association representative made sure the puppy was not hurt and allowed filming to continue. Apparently this was not scripted and Davenia McFadden, who was holding the puppy, got too close to the cat, resulting in an actual swipe at the puppy. Mary Anne addresses the cat as Antonia and asks what she thinks about having a new roommate.Īntonia makes it pretty clear she is not interested in sharing her home when she swipes angrily at Hachi. He ventures to ask if she might want to adopt the puppy, seeing she is immediately attracted to him.
Kitty Cameo: After Professor Wilson takes the dog with him from the train station he stops in a local bookstore to ask his friend Mary Anne (Davenia McFadden) if he can hang a “Found” flyer in her store’s window. Synopsis: An American remake of the Japanese film Hachiko monogatari, which was based on the true-life story of an Akita dog named Hachiko who would wait for the Professor (Richard Gere) who adopted him outside of the train station from which the man commuted every day.
Starring: Richard Gere, Joan Allen, Cary-Hiroyuki TagawaĬat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!