TOKYO STORY

Japan, 1953, 137 minutes, Black and white.
Directed by Yasijuro Ozu.

Tokyo Story is considered one of the greatest classics of Japanese cinema and of world cinema. Appreciated in its time, it has received critical success over the decades, Ozu being one of the directors (along with Carl Dreyer and Robert Bresson) who are characterised by Paul Schrader as making transcendental cinema.

Ozu works very much from Japanese traditions, the camera at waist height from the point of view of an observer, no tracking and panning devices, rather an immobile camera and clever editing. This gives an impression of contemplation, time not being so important – and for the audience to have the possibility of appreciating characters and issues.

Ozu had made quite a number of feature films before World War Two. After Tokyo Story he made a series of films portraying Japanese life – many of them using colour processes and are films of great visual beauty.

This film was made in 1953 in the aftermath of the defeat of Japan in World War Two. With the eight years following the defeat, Japanese society changed. Ozu points out in the characters of the elderly couple that they hold on to traditions, value the past, but are wanting to build up possibilities for their children. However, the children are caught up in the modern version of the Japanese rat-race, are somewhat indifferent to the visit of their parents and send them off to a holiday resort. The parents find this difficult, prefer to be at home – after which the mother has a stroke. The children then are required to go and visit their parents.

While the parents are beautifully portrayed, the actors portraying the younger generation do so with great skill, an indifferent daughter, a busy son, a compassionate daughter-in-law whose husband was killed during the war, the grandchildren having to learn about their grandparents.

While the film reflects the reserve of Japanese culture and style, its compassion and its invitation to meditation mean that it has quite a universal impact.

1.The work of Ozu, his career, acclaim? The film as a classic?

2.The black and white photography, the static style, the editing? Naturalism and realism? An authentic feel to Japanese life in the 1950s?

3.Japan, the aftermath of the war, the defeat? The American occupation? Japanese citizens trying to become modern, the post-war boom? The film’s focus solely on Japanese people – no images or signs of western people? Yet the clothes, the business world, the culture?

4.The photography styles, observation, editing and pace, the score?

5.The family portrait, a typical family of the period, the parents and their age, background, experience? The closed traditions? Their clothes? Facing the modern world after the end of the war? The younger generation, modern, western style, distant from their parents, selfish and self-absorbed? Issues of love, bonding, fidelity?

6.The parents, their love for their children, their daughter, packing up to go to visit, travelling, the plan? Their arrival, their daughter’s reaction? The talk, the activities? The daughter-in-law and her son? The baths and the bath culture? Going from the city to the country? The holiday spa? The filming of the Japanese landscapes?

7.The characters, the mother as a mother, her delight in her children, her illness, the farewell? The father, devotion to his wife, concern for his children? His drinking?

8.The failure of the holiday away, the resort, the style there? The trip home? The mother’s illness and stroke? Her age, her weight, the son and his work? Talking over their children and the changes?

9.The family response, the daughter, having to come to visit? The son and his being busy, executive style? Plans? The sympathy of the daughter-in-law? Expressions of grief? The devotion of the daughter-in-law, the son arriving late, the daughter and the effect of the vigil on her? The father and his grief?

10.The aftermath, the clothes and souvenirs, the son and his selfishness, the young grandchildren, their not getting to know their grandparents? The discussions of selfishness?

11.The daughter-in-law, her memories of her husband, child, her devotion to her in-laws? Her self-deprecation? The issue of remarrying?

12.The family getting back to normal, the river, the boat, buses and trains, ordinary life?

13.The particular glimpse of the style of Japanese life in the 1950s, tradition and reserve, change? Anticipating the future? The perspective as particularly Japanese – but also universal issues?