BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

krocheav It surprises me to find Tokyo Story regarded as one of the greatest Films of all time. I doubt many of today's audiences, both the young and not so young, would know how to watch a film like this. At first it deceptively seems more like a simplistic documentary - one with very little shape or substance, about the distances between families - then, as it moves slowly forward it begins to unnerve the patient viewer by introducing undertones - feelings and thoughts that each of us may (should) experience at some time in our lives. I'm also sure many who attempt to watch this film won't even get past the first 15-20mins. And, it will be these folk who will die without ever allowing themselves to fully experience the real-life family emotions that motivate this fine work. So, it's with great pleasure I find this curiously simple (yet complex) movie being so highly regarded between differing cultures. In some ways, it made me think of the Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger British classic "A Canterbury Tale". While it's true there may be little to compare between the two, they each brought a rich reward to the thoughtful viewer who stayed to the end. Sensitivity is a gift many lack. The remastered (Criterion) DVD releases are to be commended for quality; the one I screened was the Madman release. Now to find the 1937 American film this Japanese story was inspired by; "Make Way for Tomorrow".

thinbeach My title may sound like an oxymoron, yet I can think of no more fitting way to describe Tokyo Story. The weighted themes on death and the separation of children from parents, and the clearly fractured relationships between characters, are ripe for the screens of your next soap opera; yet it is handled so delicately, so subtly, that for a large portion many may complain there isn't drama enough.Parents take a long train journey to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their children are for the most part polite and accommodating, yet so busy with employment they are unable to spend any quality time together, and privately view their parents presence as a burden. The pace is unhurried, and to the detriment of entertainment, conversations are carried out with a realistic mundane-ness. As the selfishness behind the facade of mannered conversation is slowly revealed, this approach becomes a powerful tool to reflect on the sadder aspects of family relations. And where typical melodramas may rush to have characters verbalise their upset, and make a mockery of it in the process, Tokyo Story manages to reveal that upset in a manner largely unspoken, and far more evocative because of it. With the films title, and many location cutaways, the younger generations busyness and neglect of their elders in a large city may also be seen as a metaphor for modern life's alienation and neglect of values. They do not mean harm, but Tokyo Story shows its heart by being a melancholy display on what is lost.All things considered, Tokyo Story is an ode to cherish human relationships, and a critique on human frailty and modern life. It is a sad and touching film, but meanders very slowly, particularly at the beginning.

Charles Herold (cherold) When I was young, my reaction to film "classics" that I didn't like was that other people were simply wrong, but since that time I have come to understand that movies speak to people in very different ways. This movie is one I cannot connect with.In Tokyo Story, an elderly couple come to Tokyo to visit their children, who are too busy to spend much time with them. This dynamic plays out at a glacial pace. About a third of the way through the movie I came to believe it would be entirely plot less, and while it's not quite that, it is definitely got a lot more "Tokyo" in it than "Story."While the old people are very genial and pleasant, I didn't find their "story" that interesting. The movie did become more engrossing and affecting in its final third, but not enough to make up for the tedium of the first two thirds.The main reason I watched this movie was to see the brilliant Setsuko Hara, whose mesmerizing performance in Late Spring (also directed by Ozu) was most of the reason to watch it. She's very good here, but she's also got a pretty small part, which was very disappointing to me.Having seen two Ozu "classics" I'm thinking he's one of these highly admired film directors, like Godard or Jarmusch, whose appeal I find puzzling.Tokyo Story has been ranked by some as the greatest film ever made, but in a world of films like Rashomon, The Third Man, Citizen Kane, and Spirited Away, it's a label I cannot understand being placed on this particular movie.

Tony Escobar (clockworkorange1984) I thoroughly felt moved by Tokyo Story. Ozu's camera felt like I was looking in to a real life family with real life ordeals. The drama centers on the relationships of parents and adult children in a way that is both touching and still relevant. How does one go about aging gracefully? And how do children respond to aging parents? Certainly the way it is handled here is leaning on the malicious and greedy side. There's a sense of yearning for this alien presence (the parents) to be gone and to not be dealt with. It seems like such a burden and a chore to care for elders. And yet there's the silver lining of a widowed daughter-in-law (daughter-in-law!) to save the trip from complete disaster. The ending of a mother passing lingers with you. Even then there's bickering over trifling possessions that the deceased had owned. I felt angry, but also know people in my life who hold no respect for even the dead. The movie ends with Shukishi meditating. I was left to ponder how he must feel knowing that he will be left all alone and also be treated in the same way. I felt sad and bitter, but know also people such as Noriko exist and could bring lightness into the film.