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James Marsh

4/5 stars
The 91st feature film from veteran Japanese director Yoji Yamada is a typically nostalgic affair, in which screen icon Chieko Baisho plays an elderly woman who bonds with her taxi driver (Takuya Kimura) while reminiscing about her eventful life.
A remake of the 2022 French film Driving Madeleine, this beautifully pitched drama was produced as part of Shochiku Studios’ 130th anniversary celebrations.
Baisho, a prolific singer and actress who has appeared in well over a hundred films, has been working in the entertainment industry since the 1960s. Her collaborations with Yamada date back to 1965’s A Trap, and she became a regular fixture of his long-running Tora-san series.


Here she plays the seemingly unassuming Sumire, who hires a taxi to drive her from Shibamata to a retirement home in Hayama. Sumire insists on taking a number of detours along what is already a lengthy road trip, revisiting various notable Tokyo landmarks from her past, which in turn trigger a torrent of memories, yearnings and regrets.
Sumire’s unsuspecting audience and chauffeur is Koji (Kimura), a cash-strapped family man facing numerous pressures at home, who steps in at the last minute to handle Sumire’s booking. At first frustrated by the elderly woman’s demands, he cannot help but be won over by his fascinating passenger and the emotional odyssey that was her life.
Through a series of flashbacks, we witness Sumire’s various struggles and challenges.
With the younger Sumire portrayed by the always excellent Yu Aoi, we learn of her first love, a handsome young Zainichi Korean (Lee Jun-young) who returned home after the Korean war, leaving Sumire alone and pregnant. When she eventually marries, her husband (Takaya Sakoda) turns abusive and refuses to embrace her illegitimate son.

To divulge any more of the plot would be to spoil the numerous unexpected twists that are revealed during the course of a single car journey, as both characters open up to one another in a manner they have struggled to achieve with their own loved ones.
Yamada’s direction is gentle and unobtrusive, as expected from the nonagenarian, providing the perfect vehicle – in more ways than one – to celebrate the sensitive, empathetic prowess of his leading lady.
Even at 84, Baisho remains a magnetic screen presence, drawing us in with a performance that deftly sidesteps histrionic grandstanding in favour of a subtle humanity to make Tokyo Taxi an utterly captivating ride.
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Tokyo Taxi is an utterly captivating ride that sees an elderly woman bond with her taxi driver while reminiscing about her eventful life


Tokyo Taxi is an utterly captivating ride that sees an elderly woman bond with her taxi driver while reminiscing about her eventful life.


Asian cinema

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.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Tokyo Taxi is an utterly captivating ride that sees an elderly woman bond with her taxi driver while reminiscing about her eventful life

Tokyo Taxi is an utterly captivating ride that sees an elderly woman bond with her taxi driver while reminiscing about her eventful life