Tokyo Story

Star Review

Masterpieces are regularly cited for their extravagant qualities, but has there ever been a better example of the riches to be found in subtle and refined cinema than Yasujiro Ozu’s masterpiece, Tokyo Story (1958). Its emotional depth is attained through the slightest elements—the various crouched sitting positions of an elderly couple among their distracted adult children, the couple in isolation gazing at the sea, knowing smiles and bitter tears—arranged into a breathtaking purity of expression. Inspired by Leo McCarey’s sublime Make Way for Tomorrow (1937), Ozu and co-writer Kogo Noda re-tell the tale of the inevitable fragmentation of family life, foregoing McCarey’s Depression-era desperation and emphasizing the quiet regret of Japan’s postwar modernization. They also expertly configure the drama for their favorite actors, including Chishu Ryu, Setsuko Hara, and Haruko Sugimura, all titans of the Golden Age of Japanese cinema. Above all, Tokyo Story is a film in which viewers recognizes its truthfulness to life and fully absorb its dramatic implications (through Ozu’s famously contemplative aesthetic) as a deeply compassionate experience.

Doug Cummings on 4th August 2008

View all 26 of Doug Cummings’s reviews

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Film Description

Voted one of the ten best films of all time, Ozu's masterpiece is an emotionally breathtaking and poignant portrayal of the frailty of family ties, telling of an elderly couple who visit their grown-up son and daughter in Tokyo. The children see them as an unwelcome interruption of their busy lives and only their widowed daughter-in-law treats them with kindness and respect. Truly a five-star film.

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Pure human love and warmth fill the screen in Ozu's incredibly heart-warming film of tender family life. When the grandparents of a doctor's family come to visit them ... more >

Pure human love and warmth fill the screen in Ozu's incredibly heart-warming film of tender family life. When the grandparents of a doctor's family come to visit them in urban Tokyo, they are seen as an unwelcome intrusion into their children's lives. The elderly couple is rushed around and given only their half-hearted attention, before being sent to a health-spa. Only the family's widowed daughter-in-law shows kindness and appreciation by devoting herself to them, and Ozu conjures one of cinema's great magical moments when the grandparents embark with their daughter-in-law on a day-trip to Tokyo. Here they are truly happy, walking on foot and riding in a tram, as they marvel and gaze in sublime wonder at the sights of the beautiful city. So rarely has a film so many soul-filled moments which will make you cry and cherish in abundance, the beauty of life before realizing that the fleeting moment has gone.

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View all 38 of Wolfram Parge’s reviews

This is a Region 1 DVD and will not play on a standard UK DVD player. Please note that you are responsible for any import duty or taxes more info

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Film Details

Cast

Chishu Ryu, Chieko Higashiyama

Technical Details