This document summarizes and reviews the 1953 Japanese film Tokyo Story directed by Yasujiro Ozu. It provides details on the film's plot, Ozu's directing style which emphasized patient shots and minimal editing, and critical reception. The film is widely considered one of the greatest of all time and tells a simple but universal story about aging parents visiting their busy children in post-war Tokyo that remains deeply relevant. Top critics praise Ozu's style and how the film quietly builds to an epic portrayal of family and social change.

1. Post
Movie
research
(as
part
of
my
@socalledgreatestmoviesofalltime project)
and
comments
for
Tokyo
Story,
December
2017.
Introduction
• 136
minutes.
• Made
in
1953,
during
a
Golden
Era
of
Japanese
films.
• Tells
the
simple
story
of
aging
parents
visiting
their
busy
children
in
post-­‐war
Tokyo.
Ozu
known
for
his
Hitchcock-­‐like
pre-­‐planning
and
intentionality,
simple/patient
shots,
and
minimal
editing.
He
was
called
"a
lyrical
poet
whose
lyrics
swell
quietly
into
the
epic."
•
• Widely
considered
the
best
film
of
all
time,
and
was
the
Director's
favorite
of
his
54
movies.
My
Observations
• I
love
the
quotation
that
the
movie
quietly
swells
into
an
epic
-­‐ very
true.
• Love
the
use
of
ships
in
the
bay
and
trains
(including
sounds)
to
emphasize
the
themes.
• Love
how
the
dialogue
emphasizes
the
themes
-­‐ many,
many
lines
from
the
children
emphasizing
they
are
too
busy
with
life
for
their
parents.
• The
theme
is
just
as
relevant
today
as
it
was
in
1953.
Top
Critics
Quotable*
• Was
made
in
1953,
or
at
about
the
same
period
that
a
group
of
great
Japanese
films
was
beginning
to
make
a
first
impression
on
Western
audiences
(3)
• Tells
a
tale
as
simple
and
universal
as
life
itself
(2);
surveys
the
Japanese
family
in
the
American-­‐influenced
post-­‐war
reconstruction
period
(1)
• Often
tops
lists
of
the
best
films
of
all
time.
(1)
• The
director’s
own
favorite
of
his
54
movies.
(1)
• A
great
influence
on
many
great
directors
of
the
last
half
century
(1)
• Ozu’s
style
– with
its
so-­‐called
‘pillow
shots’(introductory
shots
of
yet-­‐
unhabited
rooms),
low,
static
camera
position,
unhurried
pacing
and
elaborately
Tokyo
Story
(Watched:
December
2017)
Tuesday,
December
26,
2017 7:10
PM

2. in
the
American-­‐influenced
post-­‐war
reconstruction
period
(1)
• Often
tops
lists
of
the
best
films
of
all
time.
(1)
• The
director’s
own
favorite
of
his
54
movies.
(1)
• A
great
influence
on
many
great
directors
of
the
last
half
century
(1)
• Ozu’s
style
– with
its
so-­‐called
‘pillow
shots’(introductory
shots
of
yet-­‐
unhabited
rooms),
low,
static
camera
position,
unhurried
pacing
and
elaborately
composed
frames."
(1)
Like
Hitchcock,
Ozu
planned
and storyboarded
everything
with
minute
precision;
no
cutaway
to
a
stone
lantern
or
line
of
washing
is
accidental
and
the
slow
arc
of
his
film
must
be
attentively
imbibed
for
the
film’s
overwhelming
force
to
be
truly
felt.
(1)
• A
lyrical
poet,
whose
lyrics
swell
quietly
into
the
epic."
(4)
• Both
of
them
use
their
cameras
as
largely
impassive,
honest
observers.
Both
seem
reluctant
to
manipulate
the
real
time
in
which
their
scenes
are
acted;
Ozu
uses
very
restrained
editing.2
• With
Ozu,
it's
as
if
the
characters
are
living
their
lives
unaware
that
a
movie
is
being
shot.
And
so
we
get
to
know
them
gradually,
begin
to
look
for
personal
characteristics
and
to
understand
the
implications
of
little
gestures
and
quiet
remarks.2
• "Tokyo
Story"
moves
quite
slowly
by
our
Western
standards,
and
requires
more
patience
at
first
than
some
moviegoers
may
be
willing
to
supply.
Its
effect
is
cumulative,
however;
the
pace
comes
to
seem
perfectly
suited
to
the
material.
And
there
are
scenes
that
will
be
hard
to
forget:
2
• It
is
important
to
remark
the
characteristic
look
of
the
Ozu
movies—the
product
of
an
almost
immobile
camera
usually
shooting
from
a
low
position,
and
the
absolute
rejection
of
such
sleights
of
cinema
as
the
fade
or
the
dissolve—and
to
note
that
this
look
is
in
itself
an
example
of
the
seemly
patience
the
films
mean
to
invoke.3
• Ozu
will
sometimes
return
to
a
room
or
a
passageway,
now
empty,
where,
a
few
moments
earlier,
people
had
been
seen.
It
is
not
nostalgia,
so
much
as
an
acknowledgment
that
places
are
sanctified
by
people
and
that
even
when
they
have
gone
away,
a
bit
of
their
presence
lingers
on.
Directed
by
Yasujiro
Ozu;
(3)
"This
remains
one
of
the
most
approachable
and
moving
of
all
cinema’s
masterpieces."
(1)
•
• "Tokyo
Story"
was
made
in
1953,
or
at
about
the
same
period
that
a
group
of
great
Japanese
films
was
beginning
to
make
a
first
impression
on
Western
audiences.
The
best
known
are
"Rashomon,"
"Ugetsu
Monogatari"
and
"Gates
of
Hell."
But
"Tokyo
Story"
was
not
imported
at
that
time,
and
its
current
national
release
represents
a
kind
of
posthumous
tribute
to
Ozu.
It
is
clear
that
"Tokyo
Story"
was
one
of
the
unacknowledged
masterpieces
of
the
early-­‐1950s
Japanese
cinema
(2)
Sources
(Top
Critics)

3. national
release
represents
a
kind
of
posthumous
tribute
to
Ozu.
It
is
clear
that
"Tokyo
Story"
was
one
of
the
unacknowledged
masterpieces
of
the
early-­‐1950s
Japanese
cinema
(2)
Sources
(Top
Critics)
1. WALLY
HAMMOND
2. Roger
Ebert
3. Roger
Greenspun
4. Stanley
Kaufman
• Rotten
Tomatoes.
• Wikipedia.
The
List
+
Facebook
Page
• https://www.slideshare.net/RobMathison/the-­‐greatest-­‐movies-­‐updated-­‐
december-­‐2017
https://www.facebook.com/socalledgreatestmoviesofalltime/•
(*)
Nearly
100%
of
the
Quotable
section
are
direct
quotations
from
critic
reviews.