Cheap Tokyo Story - Criterion Collection (DVD) (Chishu Ryu, Chieko Higashiyama, Sô Yamamura) (Yasujiro Ozu) Price

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Customer Reviews of Tokyo Story - Criterion Collection

The story seems so simple, an elderly couple leaves the country to visit their children who have moved away to Tokyo. Country folk meet city folk, age meets youth, life meets death. There are no big blow-ups, no crisis points reached or contrived dramas, just life flowing along as it does. In Ozu's gentle hands, the entire story is told between the lines, with perhaps not a single sentence of direct dialog spoken in the film. Under the calm surface is an ocean of depth, emotions flowing with an unstoppable power, yet never able to breach the veneer of etiquette and politeness.

Ozu's usual cast in at their best. Chishu Ryu plays the father perfectly, flawed and kind, strict in his youth yet lenient in his old age, he is a father-figure more than a father to his impatient children. Chieko Higashiyamaplays the kind and appreciative mother, much the same character as in "Early Summer." As always, Setsuko Hara, Japan's "Eternal Virgin," brings light and love into an otherwise dismal story playing Noriko, the widowed Daughter-in-law of Ryu and Higashiyama's son. Setsuko is ironically the only one of their children to appreciate the aged parents, even though she is not a blood-child.

"Tokyo Story" forced me to examine my own treatment of my parents, and consider how I will be treated when it is my time to visit my children. Will they dread my coming? Am I kind to my parents? That is the kind of power this film has.

Of course, the Criterion Collection presentation is wonderful, with one of the best transfers of "Tokyo Story" I have seen. It is far from flawless, but vastly superior to my old VHS copy. The extra documentaries are delightful, and offer some insight into Ozu that in turn offers insight into his wonderful films.

A Quiet masterpiece
This film was held back from international distribution for many years because it was thought to be too "Japanese". It's hard to imagine why.
The story is immediately engrossing and keeps you rivetted from start to finish. It's not Seven Samurai or Yojimbo, but a simple tale of an elderly couple travelling to Tokyo to see their children. What results is disappointment and resentment masked by plastic smiles , false pleasantries and rigid formality. The parents are disappointed in the children, and the children resent the parents. There are no intense moments of melodrama or intriguing plot twists to entertain the viewer. Worlds of pain and suffering are revealed through a few words here or there, or through subtle body language.

The film is beautifully photographed with a minimal amount of camera movement (if there is any at all), and is well preserved by Criterion. It may not be the best restoration ever, but it's superior to the infamous Ran transfers, and hardly noticeable when the film carries you away.

The entire cast is wonderful, varying from polite inoffensive formality of the elderly couple, the businesslike, obligatory courtesy of the children, and carefree lack of pretentiousness of the grandchildren. The characters are so realistic that you may be reminded of friends or family. Standing out are Chishu Ryu as the father and Setsuko Hara as the widow of Ryu's deceased son. Hara spends most of her film time bearing the most artificial and forced smiles, almost annoyingly, until the end with her scene with Ryu in which years of concealed heartbreak finally come to the surface. It is simple to the point of understatement, and quite memorable.

Ozu, one of the most neglected artists in the West, shows himself here to be one of the great directors of all time in this universal tale of deception and honesty. I'm not going to throw away Kurosawa, but I will let him set on the back-burner for a while so i can explore the new and soon to be released works of this Quiet Master of cinema.

A graceful, subtle, powerful film from Ozu
I have only recently begun exploring some of the works of the eminent Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu, and while I was able to appreciate the greatness of FLOATING WEEDS, it is his TOKYO STORY that I will remember more. Plotwise, Ozu offers more a scenario than an actual story: two elderly parents go to Tokyo to visit their children, who do not necessarily welcome them warmly. From that simple scenario, though, Ozu creates scenes that say so little and yet say so much about familial relations. That is the power of his minimalist style: a lot is left unsaid among the characters, but many things are implied, and of course it is left to the viewer to pick up on the implications and perhaps reflect on them. (The parents' children, for example, all feel exasperation at what they see as their burden when their parents arrive, but only Noriko, the widow of one of their dead sons, is truly nice to them. Obviously that says something about the others...)

Watching TOKYO STORY, I felt like I was in the presence of a wise old man who I felt could teach me, in his own silent way, a lot of things about life, especially when I eventually grow up (I am only eighteen myself) and perhaps run into these same situations that Ozu illustrates in this film. Perhaps people might react differently to this film---older people might identify with the situations, while younger ones might react in a more objective but fascinated manner. Either way, I don't think anyone who chances upon this wonderful film will not be moved in some way. What you see with every shot and every image in TOKYO STORY is life---plain and simple. It's so realistic it's haunting.