Part of Trilogies, Part 2 and The Noriko Trilogy
A profoundly stirring evocation of elemental humanity and universal heartbreak, TOKYO STORY is the crowning achievement of the unparalleled Yasujiro Ozu. The film, which follows an aging couple’s journey to visit their grown children in bustling postwar Tokyo, surveys the rich and complex world of family life with the director’s customary delicacy and incisive perspective on social mores. Featuring lovely performances from Ozu regulars Chishu Ryu and Setsuko Hara, TOKYO STORY plumbs and deepens the director’s recurring theme of generational conflict — creating what is without question one of cinema’s mightiest masterpieces.
“In this exquisite merging of specific and universal, infinite and infinitesimal, TOKYO STORY perhaps most clearly illuminates that Ozu is not the most Japanese of filmmakers, but the most human.” —Christian Blauvelt, Slant Magazine “With Ozu, it's as if the characters are living their lives unaware that a movie is being shot. And so we get to know them gradually, begin to look for personal characteristics and to understand the implications of little gestures and quiet remarks.” —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times “One of the cinema's most profound and moving studies of married love, ageing and the relations between parents and children. It is flawless and rewards numerous viewings.” —Phillip French, The Observer (UK) “Ozu’s 1953 magnum opus has frequently been acclaimed by filmmakers and critics alike as the greatest film ever made, and it very arguably could be. Regardless of where you’d place it on the hierarchy of the ‘best ever’s’, TOKYO STORY is certainly the ultimate family film — that is, the ultimate film about family and what family actually means.” —Adam Grinwald, Collider
