Film: Tokyo Story
Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Country: Japan
Released: November 1953
Runtime: 136 minutes
Genre: Drama
Studio: Shochiku
Influenced: Chantal Akerman, Wim Wenders, Paul Schrader, Sofia Coppola, Naomi Kawase
After Late Spring (1949) and Early Summer (1951), here we are at the end of Ozu's "Noriko Trilogy" in high summer. The weather stands out in Tokyo Story because the characters are constantly fanning themselves, but it's as if this fanning is a device for Ozu to represent the theme of time passing, with each movement like a heartbeat. That sense of the passing of time, or the transience or impermanence of things (as per the Japanese concept of mono no aware), is more strongly present in Tokyo Story than any of his previous films, especially in such affecting shots like the old couple sat on the harbour wall.
Donald Richie, an expert on Ozu and Japanese film, explains the concept of mono no aware as “putting up with things and taking satisfaction in your putting up with things” or “to find a rightness in the way that things necessarily are.” Ozu focuses attention on the way that characters deal with an event rather than the event itself, and in this way Tokyo Story and many of his films are a rejection of Hollywood and plot-driven movies. Another radical element of Ozu's films is the way he gives the impression of the director not being there – by not moving the camera, there's a kind of Buddhist self-effacement. Ozu built special bases to hold his camera less than three feet above the floor and often he did not move his camera during a scene. Once he got the position he wanted, he would lock down the camera, and no one was to touch it.
Director Wim Wenders talks about the precision and universality of Ozu's work. He also mentions the incredible story of Chishu Ryu, an actor Ozu used in nearly all of his films, allowing us to see a man effectively grow old on screen. Nobody, Wenders says, has had their entire life "captured in such a loving way" on screen. Tokyo Story is a film that doesn't rely on big dramatic moments or flashy visuals to tell its story. Instead, the film uses subtle storytelling techniques to convey the emotions of the characters and the themes of the film, and thanks to the acting of Ryu (as father) and the magnificent Setsuko Hara (as his daughter), the Noriko Trilogy offer us a timeless portrayal of family dynamics.
Ozu is clever in the way the he doles out information to the audience selectively. The characters mention in conversation events that have happened or will happen, but often you don’t see the events themselves. We never see the men Noriko is to marry in Late Spring and Early Summer, and in Tokyo Story, we do not see the parents visit their son in Osaka or the mother fall ill. This gives the films a quiet and contemplative quality that allows the viewer to reflect on the emotions of the characters, and requires us to involve ourselves in interpreting the action. This universal quality is what makes the films feel so deeply personal, exploring themes that are relevant to people everywhere – family relationships, getting old and dying.
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