"Mrs. Spalding, believe me, if I had anyplace else to go tonight besides the State Home for the Infirm, I'd gladly leave right now. Now, when I came here, all I asked was to be left alone. I am not some kind of freak that is here on display for the amusement of those hooligans you call children."

"Ed Harris - Wayne Lomax, Margaret's husband"

"Terry O'Quinn - Buddy Kelsey, Viola's husband"

"[to Moze] You took a no-account piece of land and a bunch of people that didn't know what they were doin' and you farmed that land better than anybody could - colored or white. You're the one that brought in the first bale of cotton this year. Don't you ever forget that."

"W.E. Simmons: You know what your trouble is, Mrs. Spalding? You are the victim of unbridled greed."

"Danny Glover - Moses "Moze" Hadner"

"Lindsay Crouse - Margaret Lomax, Edna's sister"

"Lane Smith - Albert Denby (Banker)"

"Amy Madigan - Viola Kelsey"

"Right on my biscuit!"

"[Moze caught with her silver in hand] You ever try and steal anything from me again, I'll shoot you myself, you understand that? [Moze nods]"

"Forgot to tell you, we got a letter from your Aunt Gladys. She was hoping we could come to Oklahoma and visit them... during your vacation. But I don't know. I was hoping we could paint the house."

"Albert Denby: Mrs. Spalding, when tragedies like this happen sometimes we have to face up to things that are real hard."

"Jay Patterson - W.E. Simmons"

"Yankton Hatten - Frank Spalding, Edna's son"

"Gennie James - Possum Spalding, Edna's daughter"

"Ray Baker - Sheriff Royce Spalding, Edna's late husband"

"Bill Thurman - Homer"

"Bert Remsen - Tee Tot Hightower"

"DeVoreaux White - Wylie"

"Toni Hudson - Ermine"

"John Malkovich - Mr. Will"

"Jerry Haynes - Deputy Jack Driscoll"

"Mutsuko Sakura - a patron of the Oden Restaurant"

"Teruko Nagaoka - Yone Hattori"

"Toyo Takahashi - Shūkichi Hirayama's neighbour"

"Shirō Ōsaka - Keizō Hirayama"

"Kuniko Miyake - Fumiko Hirayama"

"Eijirō Tōno - Sanpei Numata"

"Hisao Toake - Osamu Hattori"

"Toru Abe - a railway employee"

"Chieko Higashiyama - Tomi Hirayama"

"Setsuko Hara - Noriko Hirayama"

"Haruko Sugimura - Shige Kaneko"

"So Yamamura - Kōichi Hirayama"

"Kyōko Kagawa - Kyōko Hirayama"

"Nobuo Nakamura - Kurazō Kaneko"

"Chishū Ryū - Shūkichi Hirayama"

"But if I had known things would come to this, I'd have been kinder to her while she was alive."

"Sanpei Numata: I'm afraid we expect too much of our children. They lack spirit. They lack ambition. I've told that to my son. He said that there are too many people in Tokyo. That it's hard to get ahead. What do you think? Young people today have no backbone. Where is there spirit? That's not how I raised him!"

"As long as life goes on, relationships between parents and children will bring boundless joy and endless grief."

"In the daily lives of ordinary people, a sense of deep affection wells up."

"What a treat to sleep in my dead son's bed."

"[to her grandson Isamu] What are you going to be when you grow up? A doctor like your father? [Isamu doesn't answer and continues to pick grass] By the time you become a doctor, I wonder if I'll still be here."

"[at dinner table following Tomi's funeral] Kyoko, did mother still have her summer sash? I'd like it for a keepsake. Is that alright with you? And that linen kimono she used to wear in summer? I want that too. You know where it is? Can you get it out?"

"[to Tomi about leaving the hotel early] Anyway, this place is meant for the younger generation."

"Until I came up to Tokyo, I was under the impression that my son was doing better. But I've found that he is only a small neighborhood doctor. I know how you feel. I'm as dissatisfied as you are. But we can't expect too much from our children. Times have changed. We have to face it. That's what I think."

"Sometimes I feel I can't go on like this forever. Often I wonder, when I can't sleep, what will become of me if I stay this way. Day passes and night comes, yet nothing happens, and I feel a kind of loneliness. My heart seems to be waiting for something."

"Dermot Mulroney — David"