Film Review
Tokyo Story (a.k.a.
Tokyo monogatari) is the most
powerfully moving of all Yasujiro Ozu's films, a cruel but brilliantly
observed study in inter-generational conflict that is as pertinent
today as it was when the film was first seen in 1953. The story
is tells could hardly be simpler. An elderly couple visit their
grown-up children, who are too wrapped up in their own lives to show
them much in the way of hospitality. The only person to offer
them any real kindness is their daughter-in-law, the former wife of a
son who was killed in the war. As in his other 'home dramas', Ozu
uses the family as a means of exploring the strengths and failings of
human nature, crafting as he does so a modern fable of exquisite depth
and poignancy.
Tokyo Story is a near-remake
of an earlier Ozu film,
The Brothers
and Sisters of the Toda Family (1941), the differences between
the two films subtly reflecting the dramatic changes that had taken
place in Japanese society in the decade following the end of
WWII. Watching the two films back-to-back you can hardly fail to
be struck by how the bond between children and parents has weakened, to
the point that they are now virtual strangers. Parents have grown
to expect far less of their offspring, and children no longer feel the
filial obligations of their forbears. Characteristically, Ozu
does not apportion blame but accepts this as a new, albeit sad, fact of
life. Family ties are not as strong as they once were.
Ozu's trademark stylisation - the static camera, tight framing of every
scene and waist-height camera positioning - was particularly
well-suited for his home dramas, emphasising the mundanity of daily
life and the close proximity within which individuals - be they family
members or the working poor - are forced to exist. The way in
which Ozu shoots his films would appear to run counter to naturalism
and yet, strangely, it achieves a realism that is every bit as
trenchant as that of the Italian neo-realists. The tensions
between the characters are revealed and accentuated by their
positioning within the frame, and the lack of camera movement makes it
easier for the spectator to enter their world and see things from their
perspective, instead of standing back and rushing to judgement.
Ozu wants us to engage with his characters but he never wants us to
condemn them. Even his most unsympathetic characters - and
Tokyo Story has no shortage of
these - have an endearing quality about them. When it comes to
human frailty, Ozu expects us to be as generous and forgiving as he
evidently appears to be.
The remarkable power of
Tokyo Story
owes as much to its compelling performances as it does to Ozu's
flawless mise-en-scène and piercingly perceptive
screenplay. Most memorable is the contribution of Chishu Ryu (one
of Ozu's favourite actors), who brings an extraordinary sensitivity and
humanity to his portrayal of the ageing patriarch. Ryu's
dignified Shukichi Hirayama is the focus of the drama, yet he is a very
passive character, calmly accepting all the disappointments that come
his way, showing surprise only in those rare moments when he encounters
true selflessness. No one who watches the final sequence can fail
to be moved by its stark poignancy - a tired old man contemplating his
lonely final years without the companionship of a wife or the support
of his children. There is no more heartrending expression of loss
in Ozu's oeuvre than this, a quiet acceptance of the fact
that the family is no longer a sacred institution but merely a
temporary convenience for the raising of children.
© James Travers 2013
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Yasujirô Ozu film:
Early Spring (1956)
Film Synopsis
Shukichi and Tomi Hirayama, a retired couple in their sixties,
undertake a long journey from their home in the Japanese town of
Onomichi to visit their grown-up children in Tokyo. Initially,
they stay with their eldest son Koichi, a doctor who is married and has
two small children. Koichi's work prevents him from entertaining
his parents, so it falls to Noriko, the Hirayamas' daughter-in-law, a
lowly office worker, to give them a tour of the city. The
Hirayamas then visit their eldest daughter Shige and her husband
Kuzaro. Shige is far too preoccupied with the running of her
beauty parlour to have time for her parents, so she packs them off to a
coastal resort. When the hotel proves to be too noisy for them,
the Hirayamas return to Shige, only to be told that she has no room for
them. The only solution is for the old couple to split up for the
night - Tomi will stay with the kind-hearted Noriko; Shukichi will look
up some old friends. Not long after the Hirayamas have returned
home, each of their children receives an urgent telegram, notifying
them that their mother has fallen ill...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.