TOKYO STORY (Tokyo Monogatari) (1953) - ♦♦♦♦♦

Directed by - Yasujiro Ozu

 

Written by - Kogo Noda, Yasujiro Ozu

 

Starring - Chishu Ryu, Chieko Higashiyama, So Yamamura

 

 

 

"An elderly couple go to visit their children and grandchildren in Tokyo, but after a long journey they realise that they do not seem to have much time for them. Yasujiro Ozu admitted to having been inspired by Leo McCarey's film Make Way for Tomorrow when making his domestic drama masterpiece Tokyo Story. Yet, the two films are different though both are magnificent and harrowing in the way they deal with their relatively similar stories. Ozu's style is simplistic in both cinematography and mise en scene - the camera remains still and doesn't move much. However, aided by some great acting, the emotional charge of the melodramatic situation is heightened in a very sensible and genuine way, which makes Tokyo Story's message of humanity and family thankfulness all the more harrowing and emotionally compelling."

 

 

Drama, Japan