Tokyo Story (1953) - The Criterion Collection

Synopsis

Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story (Tokyo Monogatari) follows an aging couple, Tomi and Sukichi, on their journey from their rural village to visit their two married children in bustling, postwar Tokyo. Their reception is disappointing: too busy to entertain them, their children send them off to a health spa. After Tomi falls ill she and Sukichi return home, while the children, grief-stricken, hasten to be with her. From a simple tale unfolds one of the greatest of all Japanese films. Starring Ozu regulars Chishu Ryu and Setsuko Hara, the film reprises one of the director’s favorite themes—that of generational conflict—in a way that is quintessentially Japanese and yet so universal in its appeal that it continues to resonate as one of cinema’s greatest masterpieces.

Cast

Shukichi	Chishu Ryu
Tomi	Chieko Higashiyama
Noriko	Setsuko Hara
Koichi	So Yamamura
Kyoko	Kyoko Kagawa
Shige	Haruko Sugimura
Kurazo	Nobuo Nakamura
Ayako	Kuniko Miyake

Credits

Director	Yasujiro Ozu
Screenplay	Kogo Noda and Yasujiro Ozu
Cinematography	Yuharu Atsuta
Producer	Takeshi Yamamoto
Art direction	Tatsuo Hamada
Lighting	Itsuo Takashita
Editing	Yoshiyasu Hamamura
Music	Kojun Saito

Disc Features

SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET:

Newly restored high-definition digital transfer
Audio commentary by Ozu-film scholar David Desser, editor of Ozu’s Tokyo Story, a compilation of writings and reviews about the film
I Lived, But . . . (1983) a two-hour documentary about the life and career of Ozu, featuring former assistant Shohei Imamura, critics Donald Richie and Tadao Sato, actors Chishu Ryu, Mariko Okada, Haruko Sugimura, and many more
Talking with Ozu: a 40-minute tribute to Yasujiro Ozu featuring reflections from directors Stanley Kwan, Aki Kaurismaki, Claire Denis, Lindsay Anderson, Paul Schrader, Wim Wenders, and Hou Hsiao-hsien
Original theatrical trailer
New essay by David Bordwell, author of Ozu and the Poetics of Cinema
New and improved English subtitle translation
Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

From the Current

Ozu Season

Jan 5, 2010

The holidays are finally over, but a different winter celebration is just beginning in London. This week, BFI Southbank is beginning its Yasujiro Ozu “season,” made up of two parallel sections: a complete...

Family Affairs

Dec 18, 2008

Check out Chris Ware’s lovely tribute to Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story on the cover of the November/December Cinefamily calendar. The Cinefamily shows its eclectic (“exceptional, distinctive, weird, and wonderful”) programs at...

Tokyo Story

by David Bordwell Oct 27, 2003

When Tokyo Story was released in late 1953, Western audiences were just being exposed to Japanese cinema. Akira Kurosawa had made his breakthrough with Rashomon three years earlier, and Kenji Mizoguchi was moving to the forefront of the international festival scene. In 1955...