The story is simple. Shukishi and Tomi Hirayama, an elderly couple from distant Onomichi, visit their children in Tokyo. Their children primarily view the visit as an inconvenience, but any disapproval is hidden behind the face of courtesy. Son Koichi, a doctor in a modest section of Tokyo, agrees to take them sightseeing on Sunday, his day off, but a patient ends up requiring his attention. Widowed daughter-in-law Noriko welcomes them and entertains them for the day. Later, upset that the elderly couple are taking up too much time and attention, the couple's beautician daughter Shige and husband send them off to a spa. At the spa, the elderly couple are kept awake by the crowds of young people, gambling, partying and listening to a live band. The couple return to Tokyo realizing they are in younger people's way. When Shige makes it clear they have upset her plans, they decide to split up for the night. The mother goes to spend the night with her Noriko and her husband goes to visit a friend unannounced, hoping to get an invite for the night. Shukishi ends up with two friends, going out drinking till late. He and one of the friends return to his Shige's house drunk. She berates him for being a drunkard, saying that he had had this problem before. The couple decides to return home, but on the trip back the wife becomes ill and it takes longer for them to return. The wife becomes critically ill and eventually dies with her children (except one) around her. The father is left at the end, telling a neighbor if he had thought his wife would die so soon, he would have treated her better.
The director stations his camera directly on so we get almost a static stage set. The walls bookcase the image and give a feeling of claustophobia to Tokyo. People move into other rooms and instead of cutting immediately to follow them, the director keeps the camera running a couple of beats longer than Western directors would, leaving the rooms as silent witness to these people's empty lives.
The line delivery is stilted and formal. This is a film where subtext is very important, not what is actually said. We are shown individual heartbreak and regret, but in most cases it is restrained by Japanese convention. The father expresses disappointment that his doctor son is only a general practitioner. His wife finds she cannot relate to her youngest grandson. The daughter-in-law tells the father she is not the good woman he and his wife believe her to be. Shige tells her husband, when he brings home expensive cakes for her parents, that crackers are good enough for them, obviously preferring them for herself. One of the visual motifs of the film are school children walking and running to school in contrast to the much slower movements of the grandparents. This film was listed as one of the top films ever made by both critics and directors in the 2012 Sight and Sound magazine. While the movie and its characters do linger in my thoughts, I would probably not be able to have it in my top 100. Perhaps, given time, I would change my mind. Tokyo Story (1953) ****
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