# Sorekara (それから)
**Sorekara** (それから; also released as *And Then*) is a 1985 Japanese drama directed by Yoshimitsu Morita and produced and distributed by Toei, adapting the 1909 novel of the same title by Natsume Soseki. It stars Yusaku Matsuda as Daisuke Nagai, a leisured intellectual in late Meiji-era Tokyo who renews his suppressed love for Michiyo (Miwako Fujitani), the wife of his university friend Hiraoka (Kaoru Kobayashi). The film was ranked the number-one Japanese film of 1985 in Kinema Junpo's 59th Best Ten list and won multiple Japan Academy Prizes.[1](https://jfdb.jp/title/9858) • [2](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9858)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | November 9, 1985 (Japan); produced and distributed by Toei[1](https://jfdb.jp/title/9858) |
| Runtime and format | 130 minutes; color; 35mm original, later available as a DCP with English subtitles[1](https://jfdb.jp/title/9858) • [3](https://nfad.nfaj.go.jp/det.php?data_id=1231) |
| Source | Natsume Soseki's 1909 serial-turned-novel *Sorekara*; screenplay by Tomomi Tsutsui[2](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9858) • [4](https://cinefan.hkiff.org.hk/movie/and-then-24) |
| Lead cast | Yusaku Matsuda (Daisuke Nagai), Miwako Fujitani (Michiyo Hiraoka), Kaoru Kobayashi (Tsunejiro Hiraoka)[2](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9858) |
| Key crew | Director Yoshimitsu Morita; cinematography Yonezo Maeda; music Shigeru Umebayashi[2](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9858) |
| Critical standing | Kinema Junpo Best Ten: number-one Japanese film of 1985, with awards for Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Screenplay[1](https://jfdb.jp/title/9858) • [4](https://cinefan.hkiff.org.hk/movie/and-then-24) |
| Setting | Tokyo in 1909, in the late Meiji period[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/and_then) |
## Spoilers
### Story
The film is set in the changing Tokyo of 1909. Daisuke, the son of a wealthy businessman, lives apart from his family in a world of books and art, disdaining modernization and sheltered from financial worries. His cloistered life is shaken when his old friend Hiraoka returns to Tokyo jobless with his wife Michiyo. Years earlier, Daisuke had secretly loved Michiyo but stepped aside for his friend when he learned Hiraoka felt the same, and never declared his feelings. With Hiraoka in financial trouble and Michiyo miserable, Daisuke's passion resurfaces, and he must decide whether to flout society and take her away.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/and_then) • [6](https://mubi.com/en/us/films/and-then)
Japanese-language synopses add the frame of family pressure: Daisuke, who calls himself a *koto mugaminin* (a self-confessed idle gentleman, 高等遊民), has no fixed occupation and no household of his own, and his relatives press him toward an arranged marriage as he turns 30. Meanwhile he agrees to help the indebted Hiraoka, and his feelings for Michiyo grow until he finally confesses them, facing estrangement from both his friend and his family.[7](https://tv.apple.com/jp/movie/%E3%81%9D%E3%82%8C%E3%81%8B%E3%82%89/umc.cmc.7754fk7mbn497vb475004tmwt) • [8](https://eiga.com/movie/18162/)
## Production
Morita had made his name with contemporary comedies and social satire, including his commercial debut *Something Like It* (1981) and the breakout black comedy *The Family Game* (1983). *Sorekara* was his first foray into period films and his second and final collaboration with Matsuda, who starred in *The Family Game*; the cast also includes Chishu Ryu, the veteran actor known for Yasujiro Ozu's films.[9](https://www.filmlinc.org/series/yoshimitsu-morita-retrospective/) • [10](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/002467)
The screenplay was written by Tomomi Tsutsui, with cinematography by Yonezo Maeda and a score by Shigeru Umebayashi; the producers were Mitsuru Kurosawa and Sadatoshi Fujimine, with planning by Sundance Company.[2](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9858) • [3](https://nfad.nfaj.go.jp/det.php?data_id=1231) The National Film Archive of Japan holds a 35mm release print of 11,661.06 feet corresponding to the 130-minute running time.[3](https://nfad.nfaj.go.jp/det.php?data_id=1231)
## Style
**Long takes and composition.** The film includes several exceedingly long takes. In one 270-second shot, Michiyo visits Daisuke's place to ask for a financial favor; after more than two minutes in a seated medium profile two-shot, she stands and moves slowly into the foreground while the camera tracks back with her, ending with her face artificially over-exposed in light. About an hour later in the film, Michiyo serves Daisuke a soft drink and asks why he does not marry, in a continuous 320-second take in which Daisuke never moves from his spot on the floor and the camera pushes in only imperceptibly.[11](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2006/great-directors/morita/)
Japanese reviewers have noted the film's visual design: it shoots with the low tatami-level angles traditional to Japanese cinema in the manner of Ozu, while also incorporating Morita's own surreal compositions and scenes, producing a period film unlike conventional literary adaptations. Recurring images include still, rain-soaked shots, shimmering heat-haze imagery reminiscent of Seijun Suzuki's *Zigeunerweisen* (1980) and *Kagero-za* (1981), and repeated fantasy-like scenes inside a streetcar.[12](https://nanaelibrary.jpn.org/movie/nihon/1985_n.html) • [13](https://eiga.com/movie/18162/review/)
## Reception and awards
*Sorekara* was named the best Japanese film of 1985 in Kinema Junpo's 59th Best Ten critics' poll, which also gave it awards for Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Screenplay.[1](https://jfdb.jp/title/9858) • [4](https://cinefan.hkiff.org.hk/movie/and-then-24) It also received the Blue Ribbon award for best film.[12](https://nanaelibrary.jpn.org/movie/nihon/1985_n.html)
At the 9th Japan Academy Prizes (1986), the film won the Excellence Film Award, and Morita, Tsutsui, Matsuda, Umebayashi, and art director Chikara Imamura took Excellence awards in their categories. Kaoru Kobayashi won Best Supporting Actor, Yonezo Maeda won Best Cinematography, Kazuo Yabe won Best Lighting, Fumio Hashimoto won Best Sound Recording, and Miyuki Yonemoto received an Excellence Sound Recording award.[8](https://eiga.com/movie/18162/)
## Place in Morita's career
The National Film Archive of Japan describes the film as a vivid visualization of Natsume Soseki's literary world within a career that led 1980s Japanese cinema, and retrospectives in New York, Paris, and South Korea have renewed overseas interest in Morita's work.[14](https://www.nfaj.go.jp/wp-content/uploads/NFAJ_Morita_screening_HP.pdf) Film at [Lincoln Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/lincoln-center)'s 2025 retrospective characterized it as Morita's award-winning first period film and his final collaboration with Matsuda.[9](https://www.filmlinc.org/series/yoshimitsu-morita-retrospective/) A Japanese retrospective assessment calls it the work that marked Morita's leap from new-wave-styled visual stylist to fully-fledged filmmaker.[12](https://nanaelibrary.jpn.org/movie/nihon/1985_n.html)
## Other films of the same title
The Japanese title それから has also been used for other films. A 2017 film by South Korean director [Hong Sang-soo](https://www.edgepedia.org/hong-sang-soo), original title *Geu Hu* (그 후), is distributed internationally under the English title *The Day After* and appears in Japanese listings as それから; it was not available for streaming in Japan as of the [JustWatch](https://www.edgepedia.org/justwatch) listing, though available in Brazil and four other countries.[15](https://www.justwatch.com/jp/%E6%98%A0%E7%94%BB/the-day-after) A 2026 American comedy directed by [Tyler Perry](https://www.edgepedia.org/tyler-perry), *Why Did I Get Married Again?*, is titled 私たちが結婚を決めた理由 それから in Japanese and began exclusive Netflix distribution on September 9, 2026.[16](https://eiga.com/movie/106493/)
## References
1. [JFDB – それから (Sorekara), Japan Film Database](https://jfdb.jp/title/9858)
2. [JFDB – And Then (English page)](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9858)
3. [National Film Archive of Japan, held film record for それから](https://nfad.nfaj.go.jp/det.php?data_id=1231)
4. [HKIFF Cine Fan – And Then (Sorekara)](https://cinefan.hkiff.org.hk/movie/and-then-24)
5. [Sorekara – Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/and_then)
6. [And Then (1985) – MUBI](https://mubi.com/en/us/films/and-then)
7. [それから – Apple TV (Japan)](https://tv.apple.com/jp/movie/%E3%81%9D%E3%82%8C%E3%81%8B%E3%82%89/umc.cmc.7754fk7mbn497vb475004tmwt)
8. [それから（1985）作品情報 – 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/18162/)
9. [Yoshimitsu Morita Retrospective – Film at Lincoln Center](https://www.filmlinc.org/series/yoshimitsu-morita-retrospective/)
10. [それから – WOWOWオンライン](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/002467)
11. [Morita, Yoshimitsu – Senses of Cinema](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2006/great-directors/morita/)
12. [日本映画レビュー──1985年](https://nanaelibrary.jpn.org/movie/nihon/1985_n.html)
13. [それから（1985）レビュー – 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/18162/review/)
14. [国立映画アーカイブ「映画監督 森田芳光」プレスリリース (2025)](https://www.nfaj.go.jp/wp-content/uploads/NFAJ_Morita_screening_HP.pdf)
15. [それから (2017) – JustWatch Japan](https://www.justwatch.com/jp/%E6%98%A0%E7%94%BB/the-day-after)
16. [私たちが結婚を決めた理由 それから – 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/106493/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Adaptations of literature, stage, and other media › Films based on novels, novellas, and short fiction › Films based on early 20th-century literature*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license