Hachiko: A Dog’s Story Lasse Hallstrom’s “Hachiko: A Dog’s Story” is a real life and a very rare story, which brought tears in my eyes and taught me about what faithfulness means. This film is a 2009 American drama based on the true story of the faithful Akita (breed from Japan) Hachiko. This film is a remake of the 1987 Japanese film Hachiko Mongatari. Lasse has directed many other international stories in Hollywood like Lumiere and Company “Lumiere et compagnie”-France, Casanova “Femur”-Philippines, and My Life as a Dog “Mitt liv som hund”-Sweden.
Lasse has done a great job directing Hachiko, he shows each and every element that the real story has and the Japanese version of the film. Lasse has made some changes in the film but one of the major change is the film is set in present-day New York America, rather than Showa Era Japan. Ronnie in the present day stands in front of his class to give an oral presentation about personal life heroes. In his presentation Ronnie tells about “Hachiko”, his grandfather’s dog.
Few years ago, an Akita puppy is sent from Japan to America, but his pet taxi falls of the baggage cart at an American train station, where he finds professor Parker Wilson (Richard Gere). Parker posts fliers and tells to the station controller but nobody replies. Cate (Joan Allen), Parkers wife doesn’t like dogs and so she insists of keeping the dog but after few days, the little puppy brings happiness in family. Parker tries to fetch, but Hachi refuses.
Parker’s coworker Ken (Cary-Hiruki Tagawa) tells how Hachi is a proud and royal dog, but he tells it will fetch only for a special reason. As Hachi grows and figures out how to go back and forth to the train station as Parker goes into work every day. Hachi for the next year, accompanies Parker to the train station, then at 4:55pm, he is there waiting for Parker. The hot dog vendor, the bookstore owner and all the other locals were amused by Hachi but Carl (Jason Alexander); the ticket booth conductor was not amused.
One day, Parker doesn’t return home and Hachi waits and waits for the next nine years. Richard Gere has played many roles throughout his career, but as Parker he played a wonderful and a loving husband, a responsible father and a dog owner in this film, which is unusual for him because he mostly played as lover boy in “Pretty Women” and as a husband in “Unfaithful” and many more but nothing like this.
