Tôkyô monogatari (1953)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Yasujiro Ozu

Writers:

Kôgo Noda (writer)
Yasujiro Ozu (writer)

Release Date:

13 March 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An old couple visit their children and grandchildren in the city; but the children have little time for them.

Plot Keywords:

Selfishness | Elderly | Office | Waiting | Old Age

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Chishû Ryû	...	Shukishi Hirayama
Chieko Higashiyama	...	Tomi Hirayama
Setsuko Hara	...	Noriko Hirayama
Haruko Sugimura	...	Shige Kaneko
Sô Yamamura	...	Koichi Hirayama
Kuniko Miyake	...	Fumiko Hirayama - his wife
Kyôko Kagawa	...	Kyoko Hirayama
Eijirô Tôno	...	Sanpei Numata
Nobuo Nakamura	...	Kurazo Kaneko
Shirô Osaka	...	Keiso Hirayama
Hisao Toake	...	Osamu Hattori
Teruko Nagaoka	...	Yone Hattori
Mutsuko Sakura	...	Patron of the Oden Restaurant
Toyo Takahashi	...	Shukichi Hirayama's Neighbor (as Toyoko Takahashi)
Tôru Abe	...	Train employee

Also Known As:

Tokyo Story (USA)

Runtime:

136 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Brazil:18 | Hong Kong:I | Sweden:Btl | Portugal:M/12 | Finland:S | UK:U | Spain:T | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Atami, Shizuoka, Japan

Company:

Shôchiku Eiga

Trivia:

The original negative was lost soon after the film was completed, due to a fire at the vault of the lab in Yokohama city. The film had to be released using prints made from a dupe protective negative.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The "dead" mother is visibly breathing.

Quotes:

Kyoko: Isn't life disappointing?
Noriko: [smiles] Yes, it is.

Movie Connections:

References Stagecoach (1939)

Considered Ozu's masterpiece

"Tokyo Story" is considered Ozu's masterpiece; it continues to be one of the most widely admired of Ozu's films, and one of the most immediately accessible. The theme of the disintegration of a family as a microcosm of societal changes is one which is universal: this is the theme of Ford's "How Green Was My Valley", of Welles's "The Magnificent Ambersons", of Satyajit Ray's "The Music Room", but Ozu is able to tell his story without the usual paraphernalia of melodrama. The story unfolds in an almost lifelike fashion, and we in the audience feel as if we are eavesdropping on this family. Gradually, small details and little incidents build, until such scenes as the widowed daughter-in-law's confession of loneliness create an overwhelming empathy.