Extremely poignant, honest and humbling drama about parenthood. It's lost none of its power. Ozu doesn't sentimentalize or condemn; he merely observes human nature with calm and clarity. The director paints in delicate watercolour emotions, in which the viewer glimpses pain and joy, tenderness and mystery from simplicity and reticence. The central question, universal: How do we look after our elderly parents as they confront all manner of emotions about their own deaths?

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".

If there were ever a film to define the phrase "Less is more" it would be Tokyo Story. It's so simple yet I find it unbelievably compelling and moving. This is mainly thanks to the nuances of the cast that portray so much emotion. For example, Chishu Ryu's subtle performance conveys everything. In a scene where he is plainly nodding, deep down inside you can feel all the sadness and pain he is feeling and it hits you hard. Ozu also never makes the film feel overly sentimental with earned emotional moments and explores the human condition so beautifully. A true masterpiece of cinema.

This is a beautiful film, carefully and lovingly directed by Yasujiro Ozu, with a very basic story that conveys very profound messages on several different levels, the highest being the awareness of life's deepest disappointments, not only by those in the final years of their lives but by those who experience devastating loss at a young age as well. On a different but related level, this is one of the most successful and most effective depictions of life in post-World War II Japan that I have ever seen. The war, with enormously traumatic and devastating consequences to the people of Japan, had ended only eight years earlier.Although I am not an expert at the "tatami-mat" camera shot, which is taken from the floor to the ceiling of the several interior rooms, almost every scene seemed like a framed painting to me with the central characters deliberately placed in specific positions that strongly conveyed a statement about their cultural, social or emotional status through the artistic means of understatement. The emphasis was on their emotional circumstance, which pertained not only to the universal human condition of aging itself but to this critical recovery period of Japanese modern history, which, to me, is very significant in its own right.I regret that other reviewers apparently have never been immersed in Japanese culture, including exposure to uniquely Japanese mannerisms and ways of speaking, as I was for three years of my life because these folks were obviously distracted by mere superficiality to the point that they could not appreciate this film as the timeless cinematic masterpiece that it is.Other reviews have sufficiently described the simple story, so I won't repeat what has already been written. The segment of the elderly couple being shipped to the inappropriately "lively" Atami spa/resort deliberately emphasized how disconnected the couple's children were to their basic needs and desires in the closing stage of their lives to the point that their "well intentional" decisions actually caused at least one of their parents serious, physical harm. Beyond the film's very important theme concerning the universal, human condition of being insensitively discarded by society and family before the end of life, another significant aspect of the film is the very subtle but compelling message of the cost of war to Japan. We witness this in the pathetic reunion of the elderly drinking buddies as they discuss the loss of their sons to the war, and, even more forcefully, we feel it through the sad loss experienced by Noriko, the kind, devoted daughter-in-law, as if we are living her deep sorrow firsthand. Accolades to the beautiful Setsuko Hara, who portrayed the role so impeccably. Through all of the sad beauty within her and around her, how could we not fall in love with her by the end of the movie? Have you ever met anyone with such inner beauty in real life or is Noriko someone who can only exist in the wonderful world of the cinema?