Beautifully shot film that's like an Ozu family drama.

| Original Score: B+ | Oct 10, 2023

Kurosawa manages to hover right above all the stereotypical situations and makes it work with great editing, sound and intimate cinematography(by Akiko Ashizawa). And one of the most beautiful endings I've seen in movies in years.

| Mar 24, 2021

Using utter realism, Kurosawa presents the hardships a family faces in the middle of the financial crisis, similar to the same bitter truth Sam Mendes showed in "American Beauty".

| Apr 13, 2020

Given the current economic situation in America, the themes of Tokyo Sonata resonate even more.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 6, 2019

Kurosawa's film tells us a great deal about contemporary Japan without being overtly political.

| Aug 29, 2018

A film that effectively examines both the familial conflicts in Japan's transitioning society and the wondrous avenues each individual within the family explores.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 29, 2015

The family is just one of the nuclear units on the brink of systemic collapse in Kurosawa's mordant contemporary opus, which... builds up an edifice of wit around tragedy.

| Sep 29, 2015

[H]ere, perhaps more urgently than ever before, it's about what happens when people confront the world outside, and what new, fragile connections they might begin to forge.

| Oct 20, 2014

The movie slides into a kind of bizarre hyperreality that makes its desperation slightly hallucinatory but, paradoxically, more moving.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 17, 2011

There's a lesson in Tokyo Story. The lesson has to do with kindness and human interaction.

| Aug 16, 2011

A highlight of the Cannes Film Fest, Tokyo Sonata should broaden Kurosawa's appeal in the U.S.

| Original Score: B+ | May 7, 2011

Though far from flawless, it's an adventurous work that is both disturbing and ultimately moving.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 14, 2010

A horror film of a different sort from director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who made his reputation as a "J-horror" director of intelligent supernatural thrillers ...

| Original Score: 88/100 | May 8, 2010

Japanese horror maestro Kiyoshi Kurosawa applies his offbeat approach to the uniquely Japanese brand of dysfunctional family comedy in this droll satire.

| May 4, 2010

Taking a break from his regular diet of fantasy and horror, Japan's Kiyoshi Kurosawa delivers here a fierce indictment of modern-day Japan.

| Dec 16, 2009

Kurosawa is the rare director who simply lets his film dissolve into music, allowing the plot to take the film naturally to a musical conclusion.

| Jul 17, 2009

Kurosawa's relaxed pacing and lack of concern for explaining every last thing will be a welcome relief if you've wearied of blockbusters...

| Original Score: 8/10 | Jul 10, 2009

Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa cut his teeth on horror movies, and his flattened, formal style mines the horror in everyday urban life.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 9, 2009

Kagawa does the heavy dramatic lifting in Tokyo Sonata, convincingly portraying a good man flailing against reality. But Koizumi is similarly effective, and the brooding child actor Kai is also top-notch.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jun 26, 2009

Kurosawa's first domestic drama is music to general audience's ears.

Full Review | Jun 26, 2009