April Films: Tokyo Story

Classics: Tokyo Story
Dir. Yasujiro Ozu, 1953, 136 min.
In Japanese with English subtitles

One of Japan’s most acclaimed films, both domestically and internationally, Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story delicately but devastatingly critiques 20th century family values. An elderly couple travels Tokyo and Osaka to visit their adult children, but finds that only their widowed daughter-in-law receives them warmly, while the others find ways to push them aside. Without drama or fanfare, we nonetheless experience the heartbreak of their neglect. Tokyo Story, says film critic Roger Ebert, “lacks sentimental triggers and contrived emotion; it looks away from moments a lesser movie would have exploited. It doesn’t want to force our emotions, but to share its understanding.”

Classics Series: Revisiting the all-time greats of Japanese Cinema

Related event: Cherry Blossoms