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Tokyo Story
A constant fixture in critics' polls, Yasujirō Ozu's most enduring masterpiece is a beautifully nuanced exploration of filial duty, expectation and regret.
Director: Yasujirō Ozu
Overview
A constant fixture in critics' polls, Yasujirō Ozu's most enduring masterpiece, Tokyo Story, is a beautifully nuanced exploration of filial duty, expectation and regret. From the simple tale of an elderly husband and wife's visit to Tokyo to see their grown-up children, Ozu draws a compelling contrast between the measured dignity of age and the hurried insensitivity of a younger generation.
The later films of Japanese master Yasujirō Ozu are marked by a striking uniformity of theme and form. These are stories of family life involving inevitable rupture, as things change, daughters marry, widowers grow old. Ozu films this bittersweet natural progression in his unmistakably controlled, minimal style, typified by head-on shots with the camera at the height of a seated observer. Yasujirō Ozu’s celebrated masterpiece, ranked fourth in the 2022 Sight and Sound Greatest Films of All Time poll and beautifully restored for its 70th anniversary.
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