Tokyo monogatari = Tokyo story

Ozu considered what many regard as his finest film to be about the disintegration of the Japanese family system. Ordinary family events - the visit of parents to see the children and their cool reception - are profoundly moving as Ozu portrays them. Tokyo Story is actually a recasting of Leo McCarey’s Make Way For Tomorrow which his collaborator, Noda, had seen but Ozu had not. As in most of his later films there is a pervasive nostalgia, a sense of loss. Although a loosely plotted leisurely survey of the extended family structured around journeys, the film is full of conflicts triggered by the grandparents’ visit in which characterisation both enriches and qualifies stark thematic oppositions. The generally sombre tone and lack of formal playfulness is reminiscent of ‘There Was a Father’. Also available on 16mm and VHS.

Credits: Producer, Takeshi Yamamoto ; director, Yasujiro Ozu ; writers, Kogo Noda, Yasujiro Ozu ; photography, Yushun Atsuta production designer, Tatsuo Hamada, Itsuo Takahashi; editor, Yoshiyasu Hamamura.
Cast: Setsuko Hara, Chishu Ryu, Chienko Higashiyama.