Tokyo Story (1953) Tôkyô monogatari (original title)

Director:

Yasujirô Ozu

Writers:

Kôgo Noda (writer)
Yasujirô 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:

Trip | Elderly | Atami Hot Springs | Village | Onomichi Japan

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	...	Kyôko 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
Sachiko Mitani	...	Noriko's Neighbor
Zen Murase	...	Minoru Hirayama - Koichi's son
Mitsuhiro Mori	...	Isamu Hirayama - Koichi's son
Junko Anan	...	Beauty Salon Assistant
Ryôko Mizuki	...	Biyôin no kyaku
Yoshiko Togawa	...	Beauty Salon Client
Kazuhiro Itokawa	...	Student - guest at Hattori's house
Keijirô 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
Yasujirô Ozu

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

Produced by
Takeshi Yamamoto	....	producer

Original Music by
Kojun Saitô

Cinematography by
Yûharu Atsuta

Film Editing by
Yoshiyasu Hamamura

Production Design by
Tatsuo Hamada
Itsuo Takahashi

Costume Design by
Taizo Saito

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

Production Companies

• Shôchiku Eiga

Distributors

• Shôchiku Eiga (1953) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Shochiku Home Video (2003) (Japan) (DVD) (box-set)
• Shochiku Home Video (2007) (Japan) (DVD)
• Aito Mäkinen & Co (1964) (Finland) (theatrical)
• British Film Institute (BFI) (2010) (UK) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Gutek Film (2010) (Poland) (theatrical)
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (1964) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• trigon-film (2007) (Austria) (theatrical)
• trigon-film (2007) (Germany) (theatrical)
• trigon-film (2007) (Switzerland) (theatrical) (re-release)
• BFI Video (2010) (UK) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Criterion Collection, The (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• DeA Planeta Home Entertainment (Spain)
• Gutek Film (2012) (Poland) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (New Zealand) (all media)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV) (1966) (Finland) (TV)
• New Yorker Films (1972) (USA) (subtitled)
• Raro Video (2005) (Italy) (DVD)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2009) (Finland) (DVD)
• Sandrews (2009) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Tartan (2004) (UK) (DVD)
• YLE Teema (2005) (Finland) (TV)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1981) (Finland) (TV)
• trigon-film (2007) (Switzerland) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Tôkyô monogatari" - Japan (original title)

Runtime:

136 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Brazil:18 | Hong Kong:I | Sweden:Btl | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:PG | South Korea:15 | Finland:S | UK:U | Spain:T | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Atami, Shizuoka, Japan

Company:

Shôchiku Eiga

Trivia:

Inspired by the Leo McCarey film Make Way for Tomorrow (1937). Although 'Yasujiro Ozu' never saw the film, his scriptwriter 'Kogo Noda' did.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Story of Film: An Odyssey: Episode #1.3" (2011)

"Isn't Life Depressing?"

Two women are sitting on tatami mats. They are smiling and talking. One of

them says, "Isn't life depressing?" Wow... that pretty much says it.

Tokyo Story is defenitely one of the finest movies ever made. Easy. I don't care what anyone says: slow or not, this is one of Ozu's finest films. Very few movies have made my cry, but I did indeed weep at this movie. All of the acting

performances are very believeable, especially Hara's. The interesting knee- level tatami cinematography suits the film perfectly. Even the music is

impeccable.

What really gets me with Tokyo Story is how stunningly realistic it is. From the dialogue to the story, everything feels like real life. No matter what language you speak, what culture or country you hail from, this element is universal.

It's pretty much perfect... every character is fleshed out, there are no plot holes left open... I can't find anything to complain about it! 50 years after its release and it's still very contemporary... damn.

I give it **** out of ****.