Tokyo Story (The Criterion Collection)

I have only recently begun exploring some of the works of the eminent Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu, and while I was able to appreciate the greatness of FLOATING WEEDS, it is his TOKYO STORY that I will remember more. Plotwise, Ozu offers more a scenario than an actual story: two elderly parents go to Tokyo to visit their children, who do not necessarily welcome them warmly. From that simple scenario, though, Ozu creates scenes that say so little and yet say so much about familial relations. That is the power of his minimalist style: a lot is left unsaid among the characters, but many things are implied, and of course it is left to the viewer to pick up on the implications and perhaps reflect on them. (The parents' children, for example, all feel exasperation at what they see as their burden when their parents arrive, but only Noriko, the widow of one of their dead sons, is truly nice to them. Obviously that says something about the others...)

Watching TOKYO STORY, I felt like I was in the presence of a wise old man who I felt could teach me, in his own silent way, a lot of things about life, especially when I eventually grow up (I am only eighteen myself) and perhaps run into these same situations that Ozu illustrates in this film. Perhaps people might react differently to this film---older people might identify with the situations, while younger ones might react in a more objective but fascinated manner. Either way, I don't think anyone who chances upon this wonderful film will not be moved in some way. What you see with every shot and every image in TOKYO STORY is life---plain and simple. It's so realistic it's haunting.

Yasujiro Ozu had directed films from late 1920's to 1962. But he hit his stride with "Tokyo Story." Ozu movies are about the lower or middle classes, their interior lives in a very crowded and small country. This film has been ranked by various film organizations as one of the best ten movies ever made. It is a snapshot of the aspiring middle class of Japan in 1953. The war is fading and the post-war miracle is in the making. The young Japanese are striving and materialistic, but it should be said, they live in a very small world indeed. Their houses, even the house of the doctor-son is tiny and everyone sits on the floor, there are no chairs. The elderly parents representing the old Japan visit their two sons and daughter in a rebuilding, industrialized Tokyo. The parents are not welcomed warmly, but are shuttled off to a resort. Only the daughter-in-law welcomes them. Her husband had been killed in the war and she honors his memory by honoring her in-laws. Then the mother dies and the kids go to the funeral and then get back to work. All the scenes of family life take place in tiny interiors where there are for example, close up shots of two kimonoed women talking intimately with much politeness. The exterior shots contrast an industrial world of smokestacks with the beauty of the Japanese mountains and seacoast. The camera angles are very precise. The actors are unbelievably good. If you are looking for plot, you won't find much here, but you will find a studied slice of life. This movie is long and in black and white. It does not move quickly and you must stay with it to take in something different.

An elderly couple are excited to make the long trip to visit their grown children in Tokyo; once there, however, they find the children are too busy to spend time with them.

This is a lovely and touching movie from the acclaimed director Yasujiro Ozu. His specialty was observing familial relationships and the ordinary day-to-day life of post-war Japan. In "Tokyo Story," we see a couple who love their children and patiently and philosophically forgive them for their rudeness. The circle of life and the real personalities of all the characters make for a poignant story.

It moves slowly and may be too long, but the result is an unforgettable glimpse into another time and place. In Japanese with English subtitles. Recommended.