Customer Reviews

Tokyo Story [VHS]

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Tokyo Story is a movie that can be understood and loved by people everywhere because its theme is so universal. Kids grow up and neglect their parents. Sadly, the children often don't come to this realization until it's too late. In the movie, the youngest son expresses his guilt during his mother's funeral when he says we should be kind to our parents while they are alive, because filial piety cannot reach beyond the grave. But I don't think Ozu is condemning children. He's just pointing out that this is the way life is. The character Noriko poignantly states this, later in the movie.

Just a quick note about the famous lines spoken near the end of the film. The English subtitles give the spirit of the Japanese. But what Kyoko actually says to Noriko is, "Iya ne yononaka te" (The world is disgusting, isn't it?). Noriko responds by saying, "So, iya na koto bakari" (That's right, there are only disgusting things). Noriko can smile when she says this because she has come to accept life for what it is.

I first saw this in college. I was overwhelmed by the quiet but poignant characterizations and plot development centering around an elderly couple's trip to Tokyo to see their grown children and grandchildren, and the subsequent funeral of the grandmother after she suffers a fatal stroke upon the couple's return to the little seaside town of Onomichi. The director of this film, Yasujiro Ozu, has been called the most "Japanese" of the great Japanese directors, and this is certainly his masterpiece; indeed, many critics consider it the greatest film ever made in Japan. A must for connoisseurs of world cinema and Japanese culture.

I'm a japanese and I love this warm story. you'll love it. you may rethink your parents as somebody complicated..... but please love your family more and more.

Tokyo Story is a work of art of astounding power and profound beauty. I once read that the British Film Society called Ozu one of the greatest artists of the 20th century in any country and in any medium. Tokyo Story is one of his greatest films.

If you buy this video be sure you can watch it without interruption. Unplug the phone if you have to. Also, be patient with it. When I first saw it, the thought occurred to me during the opening scene that the film might be a bit uninteresting, and, as the film progressed, I was struck by its sadness. However, after the film was over I understood that the opening scene contributed in an important way to the overall power of the film. Any feelings of sadness I had had during the film had turned to exhilaration. For one of the very few times in my life, I had a gut level feeling of certain knowledge that I had experienced a great work of art.

Anyone interested in learning more about the director and his work can refer to Donald Richie's excellent book Ozu.

The name Yasujiro Ozu is known by mostly (and only) extreme filmbuffs. Most of the general public has no clue who he is. This is very unfortunate. His films are not as widely accepted as another great Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. Kurosawa as many know was not see to be a great filmmaker in his homeland. He was considered too "western". Which is exactly why the American public has embraced his films. Ozu on the other hand, was seen more as a Japanese filmmaker. Sticking more to that tradition. All I want to say is "Tokyo Story" is a beautiful ( and I never use that word to describe a film!) warm, and highly emotional film. Anyone with a heart should be able to feel for the characters in this film. I've seen several tear-jerkers in my time lol. Mostly the over done Hollywood films. While, yes some of those films are good, none of them really seem as sincere as this movie. It really hits you at a gut level. The story is about two ederly people; Shukishi (Chishu Ryu) and Tomi (Chieko Higashiyama) Hirayama going to Tokyo to visit their childern, whom they never really get the chance to see since they live so far away. Once they arrive there, they are greeted somewhat coldly. Their own childern don't seem very please to see them! They feel they're such a burden to them, that instead of having them stay with them, they suggest they get a room in a spa. All of their childern and in-laws (Zen Murase, and Kyoko Kagawa) say they are too busy to do things with them. But, the funny thing is, all we see them do is sit down and fan themselves lol. I guess this was the point Ozu was trying to make. That after a while, once childern grow up, they in a way feel as if they have "no use" for their parents. They come up with excuses for not spending time with them. The ONLY person who remains nice to them is their dead son's wife Noriko. It takes a stranger to show them a good time. The screenplay here written by Ozu himself and Kogo Noda is a movie everyone can relate to, because we all have parents! Maybe, sometimes you have found yourself acting with your parents in the same selfish way these characters did. It takes a sad event to make everyone come together for a brief momemt. Ozu loved making films about topics we all can relate to. The relationships parents have with their childern (this film and "Floating Weeds"), about parents watching their childern growing up and must realize their childern will move out and get married (His final film "An Autumn Afternoon"). He dealt with things everyone can relate too. It is for this reason this movie will please not only fans of Ozu, who've come to know what to expect from him, but non fans will find something enjoyable about this movie. This is a slow, tender, warm, and touching movie. Everyone has to try and make an effort to see this film! You'll thank me in the end.

Citizen Kane is a great film, with a camera that darts and flies, moves and runs. In Toyko Story, the camera never moves, but never has a movie been so moving! The acting is superb and the writing completly real and truthful. This is a treasure to be mined again and again.

"Tokyo Story" is easily one of the handful of world film masterpieces. Yet New Yorker has made it virtually inaccessible at its ridiculous price. When this scion of film distributors wakes up to the clamor of cinephiles in the States and kicks down its retail prices (intended, we're politely informed, for video stores), then Ozu's supreme achievements will be readily accessible to everyone. [In Japan, the original Shochiku Video version sell at about $30. And Japan is supposed to be a so much more expensive place to live in!]

If you've read anything of the description, you'll know the story doesn't appear to have any fascinating elements to it for someone who is perhaps 25 years old or younger. But if you have experienced death of a parent, or the awkwardness of dealing with grown siblings, or even dealing with embarrassing parental behavior---there is something here for you. In addition, if you are at all a History Channel buff, there is the added attraction of seeing life in postwar Japan, and what the middle-class there were doing while we were having our baby boom and moving to our "little boxes" in the suburbs. I like to look at the clothes and also see a society in a major transition while still having the influence (still felt) from American occupation. Plus if you are interested in religious and social practices, the funeral in the film is moving, and you may even come away with the Buddhist funeral chantings droning on in your head (I mean that in a GOOD way). It's kinda fun to compare this with American films about Japan made in the same period, like "Sayonara" and "Teahouse of the August Moon". And if you like this, you should see "Odd Obsession" and some of Kurosawa's contemporary films, like "High and Low".I don't know about what you learn about in 4th grade in 2003, but when I was in 4th grade we had to learn about Japan. I found it so fascinating I wanted to redo my room just like the rooms you'll see in "Tokyo Story" and I also wanted to eat Japanese-style constantly. So I rate this ichi-ban (#1)! If you're expecting some big color Douglas Sirk-style melodrama, you'll be disappointed, and the editing will seem very slow by post-MTV standards. But the actors are so good they hold your attention. I guess I made my point. Enjoy!

Yes, Kane has all the bells and whistles, Last Tango is high art, Ben-Hur is the ultimate studio colloboration - none have the simple power of Ozu's finest film. This is the least cinematic of films, the media is truely transparent, Ozu restricts and restricts himself to simple stylistic rules until there is really very little "film" and all story. Film has the power to grossly manipulate the emotions - wisely Ozu avoids all these devices. We meditate rather than stare, empathize rather than live vicariously, anti-addiction, anti-trauma, we have real intimacy rather than intensity and release. This is spiritual nourishment, not carnal satisfaction. Frankly, the most mature film from the true master.

Ozu is one of my favorite directors. He quietly stirs your heart like a meditational tea ceremony.
I especially enjoy scenes of Japan in the 50's because that is the Japan I left behind as a child. The old father in the movie represents to me a Japan I will probably never see again. He is so gentle and loving.