Tôkyô monogatari

Name: Tôkyô monogatari
Genre: Drama
Released: 1953-11-03
Duration: 2 h 16 min
Rating: 8.2
Cast: Chishû Ryû, Chieko Higashiyama, Sô Yamamura

IMDb RATING

8.2/10

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Setsuko Hara and Chishû Ryû in Tôkyô monogatari (1953)

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Drama

An old couple visit their children and grandchildren in the city, but receive little attention.An old couple visit their children and grandchildren in the city, but receive little attention.An old couple visit their children and grandchildren in the city, but receive little attention.

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IMDb RATING

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- 3 wins

Videos1

Trailer 4:16

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Setsuko Hara, Kyôko Kagawa, Shirô Ôsaka, Chishû Ryû, Haruko Sugimura, and Sô Yamamura in Tôkyô monogatari (1953)

Setsuko Hara, Chieko Higashiyama, and Chishû Ryû in Tôkyô monogatari (1953)

Setsuko Hara and Kyôko Kagawa in Tôkyô monogatari (1953)

Chieko Higashiyama and Chishû Ryû in Tôkyô monogatari (1953)

Teruko Nagaoka, Chishû Ryû, and Hisao Toake in Tôkyô monogatari (1953)

Storyline

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Trivia
The film is notable for its use of the "tatami-mat" shot, in which the camera height is low and remains largely static throughout.

Goofs
(At around 1hr 45 mins) When the children are visiting their mother at home and leave the room to talk with the father in an adjoining room, just as they sit on the floor, the shadow of the boom-mic can be seen to drop into the scene and back out again, just over the son's head on the top right of the screen. This shadow is well into the frame against the edge of what appears to be a bookshelf and should not be considered a masking mistake of the projectionist.

Quotes
Kyoko: [after the rest of the family had left] I think they should have stayed a bit longer.
Noriko: But they're busy.
Kyoko: They're selfish. Demanding things and leaving like this.
Noriko: They have their own affairs.
Kyoko: But you have yours too. They're selfish.
Noriko: But Kyoko...
Kyoko: Wanting her clothes right after her death. I felt so sorry for poor mother. Even strangers would have been more considerate!
Noriko: But look Kyoko. At your age I thought so too. But children do drift away from their parents. A woman has her own life, apart from her parents, when she becomes Shige's age. She meant no harm I'm sure. They have to look after their own lives.
Kyoko: I wonder: I won't ever be like that. Then what's the point of family?
Noriko: But children become like that, gradually.
Kyoko: Then... you, too?
Noriko: I may become like that in spite of myself.
Kyoko: Isn't life disappointing?
Noriko: Yes, it is.

Connections
Featured in Tokyo-Ga (1985)

User reviews205

Review

Featured review

10/10

beautiful meditation on old age and family; simple and moving

I can't take my mind off this movie. The story is both universally human (old age, the end of life, parents and children) and specifically Japanese. The movie tells the viewer so much about Japanese middle class life in the 1950s: eating and sleeping; mourning the war dead; clothes and home furnishings; spoiled kids; a doctor's office; a schoolroom; life in Tokyo and small towns; how family members talk to each other; old men's drinking habits; a resort hotel. But while we see all these details of a real time and place, we are constantly drawn into reflection on the meaning of human life and relationships. The reflection emerges effortlessly from the simple narrative and the specifics. The director never annoyingly tells us how to feel, he is not preaching and not drawing attention to himself. (There is none of that "hey, I'm making a moving movie" crud that you get in Hollywood treatment of these topics). He just lets the story unfold in a quiet, natural way. It's not for folks who only like "action" movies. I put "action" in quotes because this movie is about the real action in life--enjoying life, sharing it with others, facing the end of it.

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