Rotterdam Review: In Tokyo Taxi, Yoji Yamada Navigates Familiar Routes.

      Forget about misunderstood geniuses and extraordinary talents. There's nothing quite like a reliable studio hand (with a consistent 3- or 4-star batting average) who often remains unnoticed on the international stage throughout their career. By the time Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, Yoji Yamada was nearing middle age and completing his 16th feature, but it took another fifty years for international festivals and "contribution to cinema" boards to acknowledge him. Last year celebrated both the director's 94th birthday and the release of his 93rd film, Tokyo Taxi, which premiered to a sold-out audience at the IFFR last Friday night. The film is a crowd-pleaser that successfully features two experienced lead performances—in short, it’s exactly what it needs to be.

      In Japan, Yamada has been a cinematic institution for many years due to Tora-San, a cherished comedy series focusing on the misadventures of a clueless yet endearing protagonist—a character akin to The Tramp and Messrs Hulot and Bean. The franchise has around 50 films (a Guinness World Record), nearly all written and directed by Yamada, and featuring Kiyoshi Atsumi, a comedian who passed away a year before his final appearance in the role, which was posthumously released in 1997. Then, two decades later, Tora-san, Wish You Were Here—a new film partially made from flashbacks of Atsumi’s 48 performances—was released, again directed by Yamada.

      Tokyo Taxi reimagines Driving Madeleine, a recent French film about an elderly woman who spends what may be her last evening in Paris sharing stories of her wilder days with a cab driver who transitions from indifference to engagement. As suggested by the title, Yamada replaces the French capital with Japan—trading tales of 1968 student protests for his character’s (and possibly his own) recollections of World War II. While elements such as a first love who became an abusive husband and a brief jail stint are included, the essence and structure of Madeleine remain largely unchanged. The cab driver, Koji Usami (Takuya Kimura), faces worsening financial issues as his daughter, a cellist, is accepted into a prestigious music school, while his passenger, Sumire (Chieko Baisho), is heading to a nursing home. As she reminisces, this unlikely duo forms a temporary yet significant connection.

      In terms of these parallels, Tokyo Taxi appears to be the more meaningful of the two films. Madeleine's director, Christian Carion (an Oscar nominee for Joyeux Noël in 2005), was in his early 60s when he made the film, which helps explain why Yamada's interpretation of the material feels more authentic and hard-earned, even at its most sentimental. After graduating from university in the 1950s, the director began his career at Shochiku Studios when the legendary company was producing iconic masterpieces of Japanese melodrama, including Tokyo Story and the original The Ballad of Narayama, the latter of which director Keisuke Kinoshita reportedly mentored Yamada. Tokyo Taxi was developed to commemorate the studio’s 130th anniversary; although it may not rank among Shochiku's finest works, it certainly embodies a similar spirit.

      The casting further enhances Tokyo Taxi's appeal. Kimura (known for appearances in 2046, his starring role in Blade of the Immortal, and voicing the title character in Howl’s Moving Castle, among other projects) takes top billing, portraying Usami with nuanced reluctance and disinterest. However, the film would lack depth without Baisho in the passenger seat. Though 84-year-old Baisho debuted in Yamada's Kiri no Hata in 1965, I recognized her more recently for her poignant performance in Chie Hayakawa’s Plan 75. As she navigates Tokyo’s ever-engaging streets, Baisho fully embraces her character, especially as her mind visibly connects with a distant memory when Kôji offers her his arm. There's nothing in Tokyo Taxi that feels unfamiliar, and it may not leave a lasting impression, but it effortlessly glides through its 91 minutes.

      Tokyo Taxi premiered at the 2026 International Film Festival Rotterdam.