Hacker Cinema
Tokyo Story
東京物語
1953 · Film · 137 min
Directed by Yasujirō Ozu
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.
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20 comments on Hacker News
Thanks! Here's the full list: 2001: A Space Odyssey, 8½, Aguirre the Wrath of God, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, All That Heaven Allows, Apocalypse Now, Ashes and Diamonds, A Woman Under the Influence, Barry Lyndon, Bicycle Thieves, Breathless, Casablanca, Céline and Julie Go Boating, Chinatown, Chinese Roulette, Citizen Kane, City Lights, City of Pirates, Contempt, Daisies, Damnation, Dishonored, Earth, Electra My Love, El Topo, Eraserhead, Eyes Wide Shut, Film Socialisme, Fitzcarraldo, Fuego en Castilla, Hiroshima Mon Amour, Holy Motors, Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, In a Year with 13 Moons, India Song, Inland Empire, Irma Vep, Koyaanisqatsi, La Dolce Vita, La Jetée, Late Spring, L'Eau de la Seine, Le Voyage dans la Lune, Lolita, Los Olvidados, Lost Highway, Lucifer Rising, Man with a Movie Camera, Metropolis, Mirror, Mulholland Drive, Night Music, Ordet, Orpheus, Persona, Pickpocket, Playtime, Psycho, Rebecca, Rosemary's Baby, Rumble Fish, Scarface, Seven Samurai, Sherlock Jr., Singin' in the Rain, Stalker, Sunset Boulevard, Taste of Cherry, Taxi Driver, Testament of Orpheus, The 400 Blows, The Blood of a Poet, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The Color of Pomegranates, The Green Ray, The Holy Mountain, The Isle, The Lady from Shanghai, The Night of the Hunter, The Passion of Joan of Arc, The Seventh Seal, The Spirit of the Beehive, The Tales of Hoffmann, The Tree of Life, The Turin Horse, Time of the Gypsies, Tokyo Story, Touch of Evil, Trans-Europ-Express, Ugetsu, Un Chien Andalou, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Vampyr, Videodrome, Wavelength, Werckmeister Harmonies, Wild Strawberries, Moonlight Sonata, Stellar, The Haunted House Biased toward European art cinema, experimental work, and directors who broke conventional narrative rules.
> it frequently produces mediocre or worse content
I agree, and I go one step beyond:
Any "series" is BY DEFINITION, bad. If to tell a good story you need +4 episodes, you're doing a poor job. Or, what's real, you're just bloating it ON PURPOSE to keep people attached to their screens.
If Citizen Kane, Tokyo Story, 2001 Space Odyssey or any other good film managed to tell their story in <3hs, I'm sure any other of these "originals" should be able to do the same.
The real quality resides in making something SHORTER and condensed. This is when you start playing with REAL cinematic mechanisms. For example, Seven Samurai is well known for its use of motion and dynamism. Kurosawa communicates a lot without using dialogue, just by the use of movement of the characters or the background. Today's productions are just: explicit dialog > cut scene nature > explicit dialog > cut scene nature > etc.
Some stories might need longer runtimes, like Lord of the Rings or whatever "bigger universe" it is. But these are EXCEPTIONS, not the rule.
For the record, I do enjoy some Series: Friends, The Office, etc. But these are just comedies, and one could argue they're explicitly made to be "bloated" (in terms of length span).
> Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away
PS: I know I'm going to get downvoted to oblivion but I don't care.
> Tokyo Story
I watched it because it's on every list of best films, so expectations going in were high. It's not overrated. I don't cry from movies but I did when watching this one. Very subtle and relatable.
Edit: Since we're here, "The Fall" (2006) and "City of God" (2002) are some of my other favorites.
Honestly there are just too many good ones, I could give a list of at least 50 films I'd recommend without any hesitation at all. But I try to watch as little Hollywood as possible, mostly asian and european cinema.
Right now I'd say Tokyo Story (1953) is the best film I've ever seen.
One way to get more structural variety is by watching foreign movies. For example, I think Tokyo Story (1953) is better modeled as a four-act kishōtenketsu[0] structure than a three-act hero's journey. It's widely considered one of the best movies of all time, and one that I rate very highly, but it's very different from Western movies. That difference was essential to my appreciation of it, because it's also slow paced and lacking in action; the novelty was enough to hold my attention until I could engage with the story.
I think loss of artistic variety as culture becomes homogenized is an underappreciated cost of globalization.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kish%C5%8Dtenketsu
Another counter-example: the movie Tokyo Story.
The main characters have already entered their uncomfortable situation before the first scene. The twist happens unexpectedly and isn't even shown on screen. The uncomfortable situation remains, with the only change being in character understanding of it. I think it's best understood as the four act "kishōtenketsu"[0] structure, not the Hero's Journey type structure described in the article.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kish%C5%8Dtenketsu
>actors stare into the camera
I think this should be used more often. In modern film it's mostly used for forth wall breaking as a cheap joke, but the acclaimed Japanese director Yasujirō Ozu often used the technique for a kind of "VR" effect, to make the viewer feel like they're present in the scene. The characters address the camera directly but they don't show any awareness of the camera. If you haven't already, I recommend watching "Tokyo Story" to see how it's done. It places highly on many "best movies of all time" lists, and despite the slow pacing and lack of action I found it surprisingly compelling.
Watch Tokyo Story
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046438/
#5 on this list
https://www.theyshootpictures.com/gf1000_all1000films.htm
Not sure it will actually be helpful but I found it interesting both in its topic and its conclusion, message.
Note: My dad has alzheimer's His wife is taking care of him at the moment but we, my brother and I, can see he's mostly done and she's having a hard time. By "mostly done" I mean while he still seems like our Dad it feels more like he was replaced by a robot. He recognizes us and has lots of memories and can still have a conversation but he's got no "spirit", motivation, will. He does nothing. Apparently he'd have stayed in bed 24/7 if she hadn't moved the TV to the living room.
We don't really know what to do or how to help. I suspect if she left we'd put him in a home. Neither of us have the time or inclination to be there for him. It doesn't help that he moved 2000 miles away for ~30yrs so as much as we love him he hasn't been a part of our lives. He's now ~100 miles away but even if he was 1 mile away I'm not sure what more we'd be willing to do.
Some of the films recommended in this thread..
- The Nice Guys
- I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore
- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
- Don't Worry
- He Won't Get Far on Foot
- The Favourite (2018)
- Druk (2020)
- Amélie
- The Lobster
- Turist (2014)
- Parasite
- El Hoyo (The Platform)
- Quo Vadis
- Aida?
- 200 Meters
- Luzzu
- El robo del siglo (The Heist of the Century)
- Knives Out
- Us
- Get Out
- "Tokyo Story" (1953, Yasujirō Ozu)
- Aleksei German's Hard to be A God
- Edward Yang's A Better Summer's Day
- Maren Ade's Toni Erdman
- Luca Guadagnino's I Am Love
- Wings of Desire
- Do the Right Thing
- Drugstore Cowboy
- Gates of Heaven
- Beauty and the Beast
- Life Is Sweet
Agreed. One of the best movies I've seen is "Tokyo Story" (1953, Yasujirō Ozu). I'd never seen anything else with cinematography like it (almost entirely static cameras, with actors looking directly at them), and the storytelling fits the Kishōtenketsu structure rather than the standard Western three-act structure.
It's slow paced, with no action, but the novelty was enough to hold my attention until I engaged with the story, and then I wasn't bored at all. Film critics rate it very highly, and I can see why.
I actually find his colour films to be incredibly charming. Really Tokyo Story is the only green tea on rice film of his. still excellent but one could be in for bit of a surprise if they only watched that by Ozu.
Around the time of Wall-E and The Incredibles, I was very much a fan of their work and felt like they could do no wrong. Now I’m not so sure- I did love Coco but they have been absorbed by Disney at this point and are satisfying investors. Also, I find the low key arrogance about having mastered storytelling more than a little obnoxious. You can see a bit of this in Andrew Stanton’s Ted talk.
Before they sold to Disney, they were going to start making more mature films alongside their children’s entertainment. I was very curious about Ray Gunn. I think if Disney wanted it then Pixar could definitely make an incredibly compelling animated movie with mature themes. I mostly find myself disappointed with them these days.
(I find whenever I bring this up online quite a few people come at me with this idea that they are making mature films, and that the line between children’s entertainment and adult is imaginary, as though most kids could sit through something like The Rules of the Game or Tokyo Story.)
But to be clear, I’m still mostly a fan of their work but mostly for their technical mastery.
I actually don't think film depends all that much on technology. True, contemporary audiences will have to learn how to watch, read, and understand silent, black & white, and early color (like Technicolor) films. But the essential pathos, invention, and artistry sip through the pores of their technical fabric.
I'd say there's probably hundreds of films that can reasonably compete to be in the top spots. Most films aren't given that chance since they aren't widely seen by critics. For example, the 1985 Soviet film 'Come and See' is an utterly stunning example of film's power to document trauma, convey another's pain, and do so in formally and visually inventive ways. It takes pathos to the extreme. I do believe it should be considered one of the greatest films for these reasons. But it only came out 35 years ago and simply has not been shown enough, so it doesn't have the canonical heft it deserves yet.
I do think the canon is important, even if it's just because it forms the foundation on which contemporary films sit (at least those with artistic pretensions). But it's important to have your own voice when watching them. I, for example, like Tokyo Story, but think Floating Weeds is the greater Ozu film, not least for it's beautiful images - it is perhaps the best-looking color film.
There's really no accounting for taste.
I like Battle Royale, and Seven Samurai is good, for an action movie. I hated Citizen Kane and Tokyo Story, and consider both to be highly overrated.
For a medium that is dependent on technology I’d say it’s impressive for any old movie to stand the test of time. I love old movies and I’m always impressed with their resourcefulness and heart. My favourite film is Seven Samurai but I sincerely hope that we can continue to make movies which challenge the preeminence of all time classics like Citizen Kane, Tokyo Story, The Rules of the Game, 8 1/2 .. like really take your pick of the top films on that list and you or anyone would do well to watch them many times over.
Anyone who doubts citizen Kane really needs to check out what kind of films were being made before it. CK was bold and experimental, an astounding picture. It’s still fresh in many ways and moving, dated too for sure but a definite classic. Orson Welles is legitimately one of my artistic heroes and he got screwed by the powers that be at the time. I kind of hate to see his work presented this way when he himself loved many of the film makers with movies on the sight and sound list.
Honestly I’m very take it or leave it with Hitchcock’s Vertigo which is the current #1 and it will probably maintain the stop spot on the critic list during the next polls. I also don’t get Sunset which always places super high. It’s good and the running in the field scene is a thrill but that’s the thing about these lists anyways, they are just a statistical average of what everyone thinks but we all have our personal dark horse favourites. One day, Battle Royale will get the credit it deserves.
I’ve been drinking if this seems disjointed.
Tokyo Story consistently places at or near the top when directors or critics are polled for best film. It's a superb film IMO, and it's not impressionistic at all. Actors look directly at the camera, which is static and positioned to make it seem like you're actually sitting there with them. You care about the characters because it feels so immersive. The realistic style works despite the low frame rate because there's so little motion.
What other great artistic achievements are we missing because the film industry refused to move past impressionism?
I really hated Roma. I don't say that lightly. I'm in violent agreement with Richard Brody's review:
> That effacement of Cleo’s character, her reduction to a bland and blank trope that burnishes the director’s conscience while smothering her consciousness and his own, is the essential and crucial failure of “Roma.” It sets the tone for the movie’s aesthetic and hollows it out, reducing Cuarón’s worthwhile intentions and evident passions to vain gestures.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/theres-a-voice-missing-in-alfonso-cuarons-roma
It's this way with all the characters. They're all shallow, one-dimensional tropes you're never given any reason to care about. Except for the domestic servants, they're all unlikeable.
Worse, I found the film outright boring (I say this as someone who loves Barry Lyndon).
The scene shown on the movie poster that I gather is supposed to have a big emotional impact, just left me feeling manipulated. It's telegraphed to you from a mile away, and then the family claiming they love the maid, it just isn't believable given how they've ignored her and mostly treated her like crap.
Speaking of crap, the dog shit. Why the hell was that so important to Cuarón that he features it, what, a dozen times?
Finally, I really didn't care for the B&W combined with digital. The overall effect just looked contrived to me. (I watched it on 100" screen with a calibrated JVC D-ILA projector, so I think I viewed it pretty close to how the director intended.)
If you want to see a brilliant 2018 film about the human condition and a family dealing with trying circumstances, watch Shoplifters instead. I viewed Roma and Shoplifters the same evening. I'm so glad I watched the latter and wish I could have my two hours back from the former.
TL;DR: Roma sucks, watch Shoplifters instead. Or Tokyo Story if you want to see Roma done right.
Reading this somehow reminded me of Tokyo Story - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046438/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Ozu is a big oversight on this list. I'll grant you that few people outside of film scholars and students have seen anything in his catalog beyond Tokyo Story, but shit, that movie alone is easily one of the greatest ever made.
This, by the way, is one of the reasons that the aggregate national suicide rate in Korea (and also in Japan) exceeds the aggregate national suicide rate in the United States. The elderly (persons born before the end of the Korean War, and especially before the end of World War II) in those countries kill themselves at a much higher rate than the same birth cohort in the United States. On the other hand, rates of YOUTH suicide in recent decades have been much more comparable among those countries, and once when I checked in the 1990s, looking up World Health Organisation statistics, the youth suicide rate in the United States was actually higher than that in Japan. So some of the international comparisons in suicide rates have to take a careful look at cohort effects (rates specific to a particular era of birth) to better tease out hypotheses for the causes of differing rates of suicide.
This is an old issue all over the world, including in east Asia, the issue of children growing up and taking care of themselves and their children rather than their elderly parents. A comment on Hacker News (as I recall) recently mentioned the 1953 Japanese movie Tokyo Story (東京物語), which I began watching on a DVD from the public library last night. Yes, even in 1953 in early postwar Japan, families had to adjust to children not necessarily being by the side of their parents as the parents grew old.