Tokyo Story (1953)

Director: Yasujirô Ozu
Stars: Chishû Ryû, Chieko Higashiyama, Sô Yamamura
Runtime: 136 minutes

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

Verdict: Considered by many to be one of the greatest movies ever made, Yasujirô Ozu’s “Tokyo Story” shines in its innovative technical prowesses and minimalist approach to filmmaking, utilized here to tell a sincere story about family values without running a risk of stepping into melodramatic territory.

Set in a post-World War II Japan consumed by a growing westernization and a rush to the city by the new working class, the film focuses on an elderly couple’s visit to Tokyo where they are welcomed by their grown children. Children who now see them as a nuisance, an undesired distraction from their current livelihoods, and a symbol of the Japan of yore. In short, “Tokyo Story” is built around the devastating concept of families breaking up as years go by and the decline in admiration that children hold for their parents, going even as far as to question the meaning of the word “family” nowadays.

The movie, however, slightly lost me in its failure to utilize its runtime in an optimal way. Within the first 20 minutes or so, I already had a strong sense of what the script was communicating to its audience while also having a pretty clear idea of where the story was going, and I spent the rest of its 136-minute-long runtime just watching it develop. Even though every scene was meticulously crafted from a technical standpoint, the lack of thrill and repetitive nature of the narrative eventually got to me, admittedly to a point where I found myself asking for it to end.

So yes, even if I can’t say that I loved “Tokyo Story” as much as I had hoped to, I still very much understand why a lot of people hold it in such high regard. I don’t see myself revisiting it any time soon, but I still am excited to delve deeper into Ozu’s filmography as this was my introduction to his vast catalog of Japanese classics.

FINAL GRADE: 7/10