Tokyo Story (Criterion Collection) (Blu-ray + DVD)

I am something of a classic film buff (with a weakness for Japanese films) and "Tokyo Story" is one among the "ten best" on my list. I return to it about once a year, not to kneel at a shrine, but to engage in some hard “reality work." As a former student of film making and script writing, I see in all of Ozu's films variations on a story serving a set of ideas amounting to a living cultural identity. Art, by projecting an identity, rather than searching and describing one in the manner of science, works in the opposite direction by arranging believable fact to give life to idea. Success is rare and difficult to achieve. “Tokyo Story” is such a rare success, or is as close as I may ever need of one in a single lifetime.Clearly, the culture story for Ozu, the historical Japanese observer, works in the delicate area of tense ambiguity where tradition and the globalizing prospects inherent in the fact of World War II, and really both World Wars, meet stressfully. The issue is how a culture driven by a developed idea of making personality an art form can maintain its defining core sense of spirit in palpable conditions favoring more democratic, but also anonymous expression of personal excellence in an exteriorized and material manner. The historical reality of a constant threat to human dignity precipitated by unpredictable events affecting states of material scarcity, made a transcendent formalized and cultivated social reality of fine sensibility and manner a form and a manner to escape the brutish prospect of falling into horizonless immediacy and animality by personally enforced cultural solidarity.The most clear metaphor for a sense of cultural perfection in the Ozu works is seen in how he has women portray a naturalized dialectic between animality and civilization. I hasten to add for our justifiably gender sensitive age that Ozu does not objectify women, at least not otherwise than as they objectify themselves; and self-objectification is the formal mark of cultural transcendence in a traditional culture that enforces powerful pressures of conformity, both of intention and in how intention is expressed in visible behavioral expression. Ozu's characters are neither abstractions made for social theater, nor are they two-dimensional cardboard figurants acting as pawns in a socio-mechanical set piece intent upon grinding axes.In Tokyo Story, the frequent Ozu actress Setsuko Hara, an older couple's daughter-in-law widowed in the war, has a brilliant cameo role as the family outsider whose force of character has kept her from accepting the 'modern' reduced cultural expectations displayed by the remaining children of the couple. The older parents' quasi-pilgimage to Tokyo to make perhaps a last visit to their children, turns into a wrenching Odyssey of unutterable deception when the parents are faced with the fact of their own small-spirited offspring and grandchildren caught up in lives driven by mind-numbing social busyness and popular venaltiy.To avoid planting a spoiler here, I'll not say anything further about how Hara offers a hint of possible redemption in a conscious living person who does not deny herself a place as an existent in the modern present, however such a situation may seem compromised; her quiet but spirited resistance to making herself a sacrifice to tradition and her ability to empathize with the confused parents of her dead husband (whose remains were not found) facing the judgment of the finality of death is a tour de force of a spirit struggling to defend the rightful sanctuary of a private human space that is not a place of hiding or self-pity, and, in my own humble opinion, is the very opposite of a refuge in solitude.

As the headline says, Tokyo Story is a classic film (both for Japan and film as an artistic medium), and this Criterion version does an excellent job of preserving it in a Blu-Ray format. Though it may seem a crazy comparison to this film, I own original series of Godzilla movies through Criterion's Showa Series collection, and the attention to quality and detail with that collection was/is great. Their Tokyo Story release is just as strong of a presentation and includes a nice set of special features (commentary, documentaries, etc.) alongside an updated English sub translation.As a film, Tokyo Story is a rare example of a confident, talented director (Yasujiro Ozu) honoring the subtleties of human relationships and presenting a view into ordinary life for one family at a crucial period of time. Only the elderly mother seems to truly understand how crucial a time it really is, although her husband is not far behind. The adult children are, by degrees, caught up in their own lives and concerns.Ozu's direction offers an honest and respectful presentation of the family's interactions during and after the parents' visit. The script and acting performances lack melodrama and the camerawork and soundtrack avoid the kinds of emotional manipulations modern movies often take with similar subject matter (i.e. musical swells to tease out audience tears, close up shots of faces in between lines to emphasize reactions, etc.).Instead we are presented with humble, quiet images of an old couple visiting with their grown children, and those children's responses, and we must interpret the meaning not just of what is spoken by one family member to another, but all the things left unsaid as well. There is a beautiful simplicity in this storytelling approach and the patience with which it unfolds.Gentle and subtle with emotions, Tokyo Story is for those who enjoy a purely human story that speaks to universal concerns about family relationships, who or what we give our attentions to, and the things we take for granted about those we are close to, even as time marches ever on. There are no car chases, no plot mysteries to be solved, only life questions and their oft unspoken answers to reflect upon.

Tokyo Story is one of the world's great films in my opinion, dealing with minor family issues in a very sensitive manner in the way Ozu does best. It is wonderfully moving, humorous on occasions and precise. In fact like the Japanese character I believe. Not the stereotypical savage one depicted in Western war movies but an infinitely more sensitive depiction. The Japanese do not do touchy feely mawkish sentimentality but there is a gentle sentiment implied in all Ozu movies. And all the better for it I believe. I love all his movies and the actors and actresses without exception are staggeringly talented in that understated, controlled manner. You should get into these movies. It's a lesson in understanding.

Interesting and thought provoking.When I watched this movie having, seen it top an all time great list, I had no idea what to expect.Somehow though, it gets into me.I watched it 2 months ago now.I still find myself thinking about the message.There are no swear words, no violence, no special effect, it's black and white and they speak Japenese.Not a lot going for it one would imagine.Well, all I can say is try it for yourself.When I watched it I didn't think much to it, but I still think about it.Is that genius?I shall be watching it again sometime soon.

Yasujiro Ozu's wonderful heartfelt drama about an elderly couple who travel to Tokyo in order to visit their son and daughter both of whom are married. Unfortunately when they arrive they realize that their children have little or no time for them.This is a simple story about the gulf between parents and their children and what happens when elderly parents become a burden on their offspring.Beautifully played and directed in an understated manner this poignant drama touches you because its themes are universal.If you have tears prepare to shed them by the end. Ozu was one of the greatest of all movie makers and this is his masterpiece.

A great story. Worth watching several times Tape arrived in good condition and in strong packaging.

On paper it seems like an uneventful script. Two elderly people visiting their grown up children? What follows is one of the intense humanistic Tales from th 20th century and rightfully included in the top 10 of best movies ever.Enjoy!