Movie #26: Released in 1953, directed by Yasujiro Ozu, 137 minutes. New to me!

LetterBoxd score: 5 stars

Some movies on this list are here because they’re perfectly executed stories; or audiovisual spectacles; or artistic breakthroughs. This is superlative by the standards of film, which is after all what this list is all about.

But some of the movies on here are superlative by another scale; they are encapsulations of something deep and true about the world. Of course they capture this idea nearly perfectly on film too; but their contribution transcends film. I think Ozu’s movies Late Spring and now Tokyo Story belong to this tradition. They could be foundational texts for our civilization’s values – except they aren’t texts literally.

(I think Rashomon, Bicycle Thieves, and possibly L’Atalante, from what I’ve seen, also belong to this category)

Like those movies, Tokyo Story is about people who feel simultaneously particular and universal. Like Late Spring part of it is about the necessity of embracing change, while simultaneously refusing to pretend there is no sadness for things lost. But where Late Spring is compact, and focused on a relatively small set of characters (and themes), Tokyo Story has both a bigger cast and more to say.

The movie seems to render judgment on its characters; but it’s such a gentle judgment, a kind of slight admonition, rather than condemnation. We see that the children do not have enough empathy for their parents; but they are also fully formed people living full human lives. We see where they are coming from, even if we regret the choices they make. The movie is very emotional, but never treacly and never feels like it creates melodrama. Feels like such a realistic slow build.

The movie also has time to just show… nothing much. It roots the movie in a time and place and reality. It’s not all things happening, plot moving forward. Sometimes the world just is.

All in all, one of those movies that forces you to re-evaluate your priorities.

Why would someone think it’s one of the ten greatest movies ever made?

It’s on another level from most of the movies that make this list.

Next time: Sansho the Bailiff