Tokyo Story

Unrated

3/13/19722h 17m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ As long as life goes on, relationships between parents and children will bring boundless joy and endless grief. ~

Overview:

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

Director:

Yasujirō Ozu

Status:

Released

Language:

Japanese

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

fish
beach
dreams
baby
coma
parent child relationship
peace
boat
cake
office
baseball
classroom
class
lantern
lie
marriage
tea
ambition
retirement
swing
family relationships
teacher
old man
honor
school
tokyo, japan
black and white
complicated relationships
interpersonal relationships
shōwa era (1926-89)

Cast

Chishū Ryū

~ as ~

Shukichi Hirayama

Chieko Higashiyama

~ as ~

Tomi Hirayama

Setsuko Hara

~ as ~

Noriko Hirayama

Haruko Sugimura

~ as ~

Shige Kaneko

Sō Yamamura

~ as ~

Koichi Hirayama

Kuniko Miyake

~ as ~

Fumiko Hirayama

Kyōko Kagawa

~ as ~

Kyoko Hirayama

Eijirō Tōno

~ as ~

Numata

Nobuo Nakamura

~ as ~

Kurazo Kaneko

Shirō Ōsaka

~ as ~

Keizo Hirayama

View full cast & crew

Reviews (2)

t
tmdb47633491
Written 7 year(s) ago
6
A necessary film, in the way that vegetables are necessary.
CinemaSerf
Written 1 year(s) ago
7
An elderly couple leave their small fishing village to travel to Tokyo to visit their children and grandchildren. Armed with a small packed lunch and the most perfectly packed suitcase you will ever see, they embark on their train journey to the metropolis. Once there, though, they discover that though they are welcome enough - their son "Koichi" (Sô Yamamura) - a paediatrician, and his beautician sister "Shige" (Haruko Sugimura) are pretty much caught up in their own lives and have little time to spend with their parents. In a land where duty is everything, this film depicts the rather unfeeling, though never callous, way in which the elderly pair are bundled from pillar to post, to a spa populated by youngsters and ultimately into the care of their widowed daughter-in-law "Noriko" (Setsuko Hara) who makes time to look after and try to entertain them. The film takes it's time. The delicate performances from the older couple are a joy to watch, especially once he "Shukichi" (Chishû Ryû) has had some saki with his friends; and she "Tomi" (Chieko Higashiyama) is superb as the long suffering, kindly wife who has a stoicism that is both entertaining and laudable. It all comes to an head in quite a sadly poignant fashion, allowing the brief appearance of their other son "Keiso" (Shirô Ôsaka) for a conclusion that is both depressing and yet oddly fitting. This is beautifully crafted observation of changing family dynamics, or priorities and of, well, just taking people for granted.