Tokyo Story

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Tokyo Story

Released Nov 3, 1953

2h 14m

Drama

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100%

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53 Reviews

93%

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10,000+ Ratings

The elderly Shukishi (Chishu Ryu) and his wife, Tomi (Chieko Higashiyama), take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi (Sô Yamamura), a doctor, and their daughter, Shige (Haruko Sugimura), a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko (Setsuko Hara), the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company.

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Critics Consensus

Tokyo Story is a Yasujiro Ozu masterpiece whose rewarding complexity has lost none of its power more than half a century on.

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Penelope Gilliatt

The New Yorker

Ozu is obsessed with film's possibility of reporting the poetic truth of the actual. He is reality's artisan, and its connoisseur.

Jan 22, 2024

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Christian Blauvelt

Slant Magazine

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.

Rated: 4/4

Nov 24, 2010

Full Review

Eric Hynes

Village Voice

Ozu's long shots, knee-high camera placement, and collapsed perspective -- as gorgeous and unsettling as a Cézanne -- gather power over the duration, but time itself is the master's most potent weapon.

Nov 23, 2010

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Grant Watson

Fiction Machine

It is a gentle work, filled with warmth and nicely observed human behaviours.

Rated: 10/10

Feb 21, 2025

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Josh Larsen

LarsenOnFilm

...a work of considerable restraint.

Rated: 3.5/4

Feb 20, 2024

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

... a resolutely modern portrait of post-war Japan, where western fashion defines the business culture and traditional dress is reserved for home, and careers and success increasingly dominate the lives of the rising generation.

Dec 17, 2022

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Grant L

Absolutely extraordinary. Very quiet but achingly real with what may be the single most bittersweet yet true line spoken at the end of any movie (won’t spoil it) and of course Setsuko Hara is radiant, personifying the deep and innate humanity and decency that post-war Japan so desperately needed to find within itself.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/11/24

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Kevin L

Yasujirō Ozu film about family dynamics and how our view of our parents change once we are grown with our own family and busy schedules. Visiting parents become almost like a burden we must find ways to entertain or occupy while we go on with our own time consuming routines. It isn't that our lives keep us too busy for our families. It's that we have arranged them to protect us from having to deal with big questions of love, work and death. Given the opportunity with family to share our hopes, concerns, joys and disappointments, we escape into truisms, small talk and distractions. 3.6 stars

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/29/24

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Richard B

I have no idea why this is held in such high regard. It’s a very plain story told in a very plain way. I’ve nothing against slow films but this is glacial - 50% of the dialog is just people agreeing with each other! Very mixed acting - the father being almost pantomime. If you’re in the mood for classic Japanese cinema watch some Kurosawa instead…

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

06/20/24

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Audience Member

Masterpiece! Ozu cannot be stopped! One of the best of the best! Tokyo Story towers above his other amazing work!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/11/24

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Anastasia A

A film that speaks to the viewer's soul. A classic masterpiece that shows the generation gap and takes you on a journey to another era.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/02/24

Full Review

John W

Hard to believe this movie is now 70 years old. Endlessly re-watchable, touching, and perfectly realized. Set aside a time when you are not busy and give it your full attention. Then call your parents.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

04/01/24

Full Review

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Yasujirô Ozu

Director

Chishu Ryu

Shukishi Hirayama

Chieko Higashiyama

Tomi Hirayama

Setsuko Hara

Noriko Hirayama

Haruko Sugimura

Shige Kaneko

Sô Yamamura

Koichi Hirayama

Tokyo Story: Trailer 1

4:15

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Synopsis

The elderly Shukishi (Chishu Ryu) and his wife, Tomi (Chieko Higashiyama), take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi (Sô Yamamura), a doctor, and their daughter, Shige (Haruko Sugimura), a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko (Setsuko Hara), the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company.

Director: Yasujirô Ozu
Producer: Takeshi Yamamoto
Screenwriter: Kôgo Noda, Yasujirô Ozu
Distributor: New Yorker Films, DeA Planeta S.L., Criterion Collection, Shochiku Films Ltd.
Production Co: Shochiku Films
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 3, 1953, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 23, 2012
Runtime: 2h 14m
Sound Mix: Mono

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