Tokyo Story / Tokyo Monogatari (1953)

An elderly couple from Onomichi were planning to visit their sons and daughters in Tokyo. However, they were forced to face and later, realize how far has their sons and daughters had drifted away from them, absorbed by their own business. A simple quiet tale of a family, that would remind you of how important the family is, Tokyo Story (or Tokyo Monogatari) is a heart-breaking tale, ironic but bitterly rings the truth to our ordinary life as sons or daughters, or as fathers or mothers.

My interest on classic Japanese cinema, like many others, i'm sure, i begin my journey with Akira Kurosawa. Having seen many of his films, i grew more familiar with his Samurai-themed and takes on life, and grew a perpetual fondness with one of his film about life of an old man, Ikiru.

It was only a matter of time. In fact, it was only a short while before i heard of Yasujiro Ozu. Alas, i had tasted my first Ozu only last night, with Tokyo Story, a film that has been on top of my wanted list for a loong time.

The film was slow, very slow, with two hours more of nothing but drama talk, it was not a film for everyone. But, of course, since i loved drama, and slow paced film was nothing new to me, i daresay that this film is surely one of the best film of all-time. A perfect atmospheric sights and sounds, a perfect cast (you would easily guessed correctly each's characters based on look), a down-to-earth theme that surely would kicked in at your daily life or history, and - yes, twice - a perfect cast (the Mother character whose i'm sure would be easily identified by any audiences who had a loving Mother. I, for one, missed my Mother dearly after seeing this film).

It has been said that the film has many of Ozu's traits in which not melodramatic or structured around Hollywood plot points, important events often not shown in screen, thus forcing us, the audience to made guesses about the events happened previously. In Tokyo Story's case, it works tremendously well because a) It keep me hooked up to the story, which otherwise would be potentially boring. I mean, it's a story about an elderly couple made a trip. I'd say, only the most capable director would take the story flight away from a boredom. And that's exactly what Mr.Ozu has done with the film. And b) It has an element of surprise. I was shocked at one point of the film when the events turn heart-breaking.

I can't praise this film enough. At the end of the film, during the final conversation between Father and Noriko, i was genuinely in tears. The film's final coversation was an irony that ring true in my personal life, i was ashamed and appreciated the film even more after that final scene. If you haven't had enough love to your parents before this film, i would very much sure that your love would be doubled, tripled, quintupled, even more by the end of this quiet masterpiece. Unless, of course, you fell asleep.

Side note: The film was made in 1953, a mere eight years after the World War II. On a lesser scale, i haven't seen anything much achieved in our cinematic world after the events in 1998. That was nine years ago. Those Japanese are sure something, eh?