Tokyo Story
| Tokyo Story | |
|---|---|
| File:Tokyo monogatari film poster.jpg Film poster | |
| Directed by | Yasujiro Ozu |
| Written by | Kôgo Noda Yasujiro Ozu |
| Produced by | Takeshi Yamamoto |
| Starring | Chishu Ryu Chieko Higashiyama Setsuko Hara |
| Cinematography | Yuuharu Atsuta |
| Edited by | Yoshiyasu Hamamura |
| Music by | Kojun Saitô |
| Distributed by | Shochiku The Criterion Collection |
Release dates | 3 November, 1953 |
Running time | 136 min. |
| Language | Japanese |
Tokyo Story (東京物語, Tokyo monogatari) is a 1953 Japanese movie by Yasujiro Ozu, in which elderly parents from the southwestern seaside town of Onomichi visit their busy children in Tokyo — a journey which, before the introduction of the bullet train, took almost a day — only to be neglected by them. It stars Setsuko Hara, one of Japan's (and the director's) favourite actresses, as their daughter-in-law. The children genuinely wish to spend time with their parents, and do, but as they have lives and families of their own they find it difficult to maintain a balance between the two.
The story does not rely on melodramatic moments and Hollywood plot points; instead, as is common with the filmmaker's works, it is deliberately-paced. Camera shots are typically at sitting-mat level and seldom change. Once in the film the camera actually pans away from a stationary view, "more than usual"[1]film critic Roger Ebert half-humorously reports. A personal fan of Ozu's works, Ebert gave it his highest rating. Later, Ebert included it on his series of great movies[2]
Plot
The film concernts the relationship between two parents, who travell to the bustling metropolis of Tokyo, Japan to visit their children, who they find are to indulged in their own lives to spend any time with their parents. Template:Spoiler Two elderly parents from the southwestern small seaside town of Onomichi are trvaelling to pay a visit to their busy children in Tokyo — a journey which, before the introduction of the bullet train, took almost a day — only to find that they are neglected by them. The children genuinely wish to spend time with their parents, and do, but as they have lives and families of their own they find it difficult to maintain a balance between the two.
Acclaim and status
Tokyo Story is regularly listed as one of the ten greatest films ever made in Sight and Sound magazine's regular polls of directors and critics. John Walker, editor of the Halliwell's Film Guides, placed Tokyo Story top in his published list of the best 1000 films yet made. The film was included in Derek Malcolm's The Century of Films, a list of films the critic deemed artistically or culturally important and Time Magazine listed it among their All-Time greatest 100 movies. Movie preservers The Criterion Collection recently cleaned up and reissued the black and white film on a two-disc DVD set (Region 1).
References
External links
- Tokyo Story at IMDb
- Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, June 10, 2005, "The quiet master"
- Tokyo Story at the Arts & Faith Top100 Spiritually Significant Films list
- Criterion Collection essay by David Bordwell
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