Tokyo Story

TOKYO STORY
TÔKYÔ MONOGATARI
Japan
1953
136 Min
Black and White
1.33:1
Japanese
DIR Yasujiro Ozu
PROD Takeshi Yamamoto
SCR Kogo Noda, Yasujiro Ozu
DP Yuharu Atsuta
CAST Chishu Ryu, Chieko Higashiyama, Setsuko Hara, So Yamamura, Kyoko Kagawa, Haruko Sugimura, Nobuo Nakamura, Kuniko Miyake
ED Yoshiyasu Hamamura
MUSIC Kojun Saito
My Rating : 5/5 (Great Movie)



I had been reluctant to watch this movie for quite some time mainly because of the predictable story line and the countless adaptations of the same in Hindi cinema, but thankfully I watched this and learnt an important lesson; A masterpiece will remain a masterpiece and no adaptation can ever come close to the essence of the original.
The movie feels like a wistful breeze with Ozu’s characteristic stationary camera shots and remarkable continuity. Ozu’s minimalistic style effectively conveys the essence of the movie, leaving out all the melodrama which I have seen in most of the adaptations. Most importantly, the movie is firmly rooted in realism with its backdrop of postwar Japan and the efforts of the common people to come to terms with the new industrialized nation, trying to forget their past and moving ahead in life. The characters are very convincing. I was especially pleased to see that the daughter in laws of the old couple were the most warmhearted creatures in the movie. The children although less sensitive, aren’t exactly vicious but have simply become extremely rational in their approach towards life which as the old man himself points out, isn’t so easy anymore. The movie is hence not about children disrespecting or not loving their parents but simply about the changes that have taken place in family values in the modern world due to various socio-economic reasons which although disappointing, are a fact of life that has to be accepted. The old man highlights this fact in the end when he says that he will have to get used to the loneliness because life, in spite of all its hardships and changes, must go on and so it has.