Saturday, December 15, 2012

257. Tokyo Story

Tokyo Story
1953
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu









I originally watched this film because it was mentioned in one of my favorite books of all time, The Elegance of a Hedgehog.  The main character would frequently rave about Japanese cinema.  I had no experience in Japanese films back then but pretty much took her word for it.  Now, of course, I am obsessed.  All thanks go to The Book!

Anyway, this one disappointed me a bit.  So far, I have not been able to find anyone that makes this comparison so I guess I will be the first to say it.  It is exactly like Make Way For Tomorrow.  Oh wait, scratch that.  I just looked at the IMDb page and it said that the scriptwriter was inspired by Make Way for Tomorrow.  Guess I am not as special as I thought I was.  Sad…

Although Tokyo Story usually listed as one of the greatest films of all time, I am not sure they did it that much better than MWFT.  Not to say this is a bad film, just not astounding.  Ozu's camerawork is certainly creative; it seems like the camera just sits on the ground the entire time of filming, making it seem almost like a documentary.

I guess I have been so impressed with Japanese cinema that this one disappointed me a bit.  I am really selling it short, though.  It is a great film and one that should definitely be watched.  Damn my unreasonably high expectations.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

The camera technique I described is called the "tatami-shot".

The film largely sides with the parents.  Ozu lived with his mother for most of his life.

4 comments:

  1. This may be inspired by Make Way for Tomorrow, but it is a lot deeper. I love how we get very close to the characters, both the good and the bad ones, and how much can be said without saying anything.

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  2. Hi TS .. I think I agree that this somehow has a bit more depth, without the sentimentalisation, as well as being a better made film..

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  3. I actually preferred Make Way for Tomorrow. I had very high hopes for this, for years having seen it rated high in Greatest Movie lists, but I didn't think it had enough content to fill out 140mins of screen time. The most interesting bit was with the daughter-in-law at the end. That might have been an interesting area to explore more.

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  4. Yeah 140 minutes was definitely excessive. I've rewatched Make Way for Tomorrow but haven't rewatched this.

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