Tokyo Story (1953)

Director: Yasujirō Ozu Cinematographer: Yūharu Atsuta

With his masterful ability for understanding the human condition, Yasujiro Ozu, by the time of his death in 1963 (aged just 60), had become, by common consent, Japan’s greatest director and his most famous and acclaimed film remains Tokyo monogatari (Tokyo Story), the poignant tale of a couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children. The elderly grandparents find their offspring too preoccupied with their jobs and families to spend much time with them. In fact, the only affection and kindness comes from their daughter-in-law Noriko, widow of a son they lost to war. Ozu combines his seemingly simple but distinctive minimalist filming techniques, (placing the camera, which rarely moves, at a low height as well as intricate cutting), with brilliant narrative control to deliver an emotionally rich yet subtle family drama that’s as close to everyday life as any the cinema has given us.

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Buy or Rent (watch online)
Criterion Collection [Blu-ray]
R1993 Japanese B2 Poster
DVD
R2003 British Quad Poster
Ozu’s Tokyo Story (Cambridge Film Handbooks) Paperback
R2000s French Moyenne Poster

 

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Lists:

• No. 4 on The Pendragon Society’s 1000 Greatest Films of All-Time (2019)
• No. 1 on Sight and Sound Directors Poll Top 100 Films (2012)
• No. 3 on Sight and Sound Critics Poll Top 250 Greatest Films of All-Time (2012)
• No. 4 on The Guardian’s 25 Best Arthouse Films of All-Time (2010)
• Listed among Derek Malcolm’s Top 100 Films of the Century (2000)
  
  
  
  

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CAST