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 | Tokyo Japan | Parent Child Relationship | Death | Watch

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Chishu Ryu	...	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)
Toru Abe	...	Train employee
Sachiko Mitani	...	Noriko's Neighbor
Zen Murase	...	Minoru Hirayama - Koichi's son
Mitsuhiro Mori	...	Isamu Hirayama - Koichi's son
Junko Anan	...	Beauty Salon Assistant
Ryoko Mizuki	...	Biyôin no kyaku
Yoshiko Togawa	...	Beauty Salon Client
Kazuhiro Itokawa	...	Student - guest at Hattori's house
Keijiro Morozumi	...	Police agent
Tsutomu Nijima	...	Noriko's office boss
Shozo Suzuki	...	Noriko's office colleague
Yoshiko Tashiro	...	Hotel maid
Haruko Chichibu	...	Hotel maid
Takashi Miki	...	Singer
Binnosuke Nagao	...	Doctor at Onomichi

Directed by
Yasujiro Ozu

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kôgo Noda		writer
Yasujiro Ozu		writer

Produced by
Takeshi Yamamoto	....	producer

Original Music by
Kojun Saitô

Cinematography by
Yuuharu Atsuta

Film Editing by
Yoshiyasu Hamamura

Production Design by
Tatsuo Hamada
Itsuo Takahashi

Costume Design by
Taizo Saito

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Shohei Imamura	....	first assistant director

Production Companies

• Shochiku Kinema Kenkyû-jo

Distributors

• Aito Mäkinen & Co (1964) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (1964) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• trigon-film (2007) (Austria) (theatrical)
• trigon-film (2007) (Germany) (theatrical)
• trigon-film (2007) (Switzerland) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Criterion Collection, The (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• DeA Planeta Home Entertainment (Spain)
• Madman Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (New Zealand) (all media)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV) (1966) (Finland) (TV)
• New Yorker Films (1972) (USA) (subtitled)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2009) (Finland) (DVD)
• Shochiku Company (1953) (Japan)
• Tartan (2004) (UK) (DVD)
• YLE Teema (2005) (Finland) (TV)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1981) (Finland) (TV)
• trigon-film (2007) (Switzerland) (DVD)

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:

Shochiku Kinema Kenkyû-jo

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:

Referenced in No Country for Old Men (2007)

Extraordinary Portrayal of Real Life

A fantastic film that belies the simplicity of its plot, Tokyo Story is the tale of a vacation gone sadly awry, with an elderly man and woman visiting from the countryside pushed to the sidelines by their busy children in the city. The younger generation (and by extension the "new" Japan) turns its back on the family from which it arose- because of selfishness, because of necessity, or because it's simply the way of the world. The movie provides no easy answers- its melancholy ambiguity is part of its charm. Whatever the case, Ozu delights in portraying the details of everyday life. The emotional resonances of this movie are extraordinary, and some shots (a child picking flowers, an old couple framed by the sea, a woman sitting forlornly at her work desk) are enough to give a sensitive film-goer the shivers. Despite the testimony of some critics, the film is not totally devoid of melodramatic elements (some stock characters and cloying musical motifs spring readily to mind), but the film is founded upon such an obvious love and respect for the importance of real-world interactions that it's hard not to be anything other than enthralled by it.