Rating: 
Summary: Ozu's Masterpiece
Review: "Tokyo Story" is easily one of the handful of world film masterpieces. Yet New Yorker has made it virtually inaccessible at its ridiculous price. When this scion of film distributors wakes up to the clamor of cinephiles in the States and kicks down its retail prices (intended, we're politely informed, for video stores), then Ozu's supreme achievements will be readily accessible to everyone. [In Japan, the original Shochiku Video version sell at about $30. And Japan is supposed to be a so much more expensive place to live in!]
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Summary: isn't life disappointing?
Review: "Tokyo Story" is one of the saddest and most beautiful films I have ever seen. A meditation on the passage of time, on death, family and the cycles of life, its plot is simple and haunting: an elderly couple travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children, only to find that they are regarded as a nuisance. Often agonizingly non-confrontational (both in terms of the film's characters and in the way Ozu uses the camera), "Tokyo Story" speaks to the parts of us which must be kept hidden and that which we cannot say. Though its slow pace might deter some viewers, everything from Ozu's gorgeous framing and use of architectural space to the melancholic images of trains passing through the Japanese country-side is pure poetry. Godard once wrote that there are five or six films in the history of cinema which one wants to review simply by saying, 'it is the most beautiful of films,' because there can be no higher praise. "Tokyo Story" is the most beautiful of films. DVD anyone?
Rating: 
Summary: Great film, with a great message.
Review: A lovely movie with excellent direction and brilliant acting. Any true fan of cinemography will enjoy the interesting camera views, the beautiful scenes vis a vi the direction and the touching plot.
However, this movie won't fare well with modern audiences, because first it is in a foreign language (English subtitles) and second it is a very slow developing movie. In our current society, where the average attention span is about five minutes, this movie won't be appreciated. But, for those who enjoy a intellectually stimulating experience, "Tokyo Story" will make you reflect on your ideals and convictions towards your family, especially your parents.
Unfortunately, I don't see how today's younger audiences will get anything out of this film. Seeing as how most of their mentalities are "turn 18, say goodbye to mom and dad, live as salaciously and promiscuously as legally and physically possible, and then eventually get married because all my friends are doing it."
If you are patient and enjoy reading books, you will love this movie. However, if you need action and constant eye candy, you might want to avoid this film. Keep in mind that it truly is a classic, with a valuable message.
I don't know if you want to pay forty dollars for it, unless you are a collector. If you are just curious, you might want to check your local library for it and if you like it as much as I did, then buy it. If you are looking for a nice film that is much lighter and carries some of the same messages, try "A Blast From the Past" with Brandon Frasier.
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Summary: How would you not like Tokyo Story?
Review: By demanding almost all the things one sees in modern popular cinema: double digit violence, fart jokes, love stories on a par with deoderant commercials. The usual crap that passes as comedy, insight, heart, whatever.
With Ozu we enter a whole new landscape that contains subtlties upon subtlties. Wind upon the ocean. The embarrasment of older parents shuffled off to jazzy seaside. An unknown but somehow recognizable temple on a hill-top.An ungrateful and grating daughter.People loping along on a tour bus. A vivacious continuously grateful daughter- in law. well-- This is Ozu and as people onthis review-page have summed up the story line I won't go into that. But look to Ozu for what you won't find elsewhere: the world in semi-tones. The world in little moments that we so busy spending that their resonance eludes us.
This is a great film. But a very quiet one. It unravels before you like your own family might: parents come to visit. are going to spend time with them. Don't spend time with them. Shuffle them off to seaside. Dissapointment. Shuffle them off to Daughter in law. Some success there though some guilt. Father gets Drunk. Things just keep going on.
I've watched this film at least 3 or 4 times and never tire of it.
Don't look for action or even monumental drama and enjoy.
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Summary: The best film ever made!
Review: Citizen Kane is a great film, with a camera that darts and flies, moves and runs. In Toyko Story, the camera never moves, but never has a movie been so moving! The acting is superb and the writing completly real and truthful. This is a treasure to be mined again and again.
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Summary: Grace and simplicity = timeless masterpiece
Review: Continually voted into the Sight and Sound poll as one of the top 10 films ever made, "Tokyo Story" is a great introduction to Ozu's work, and Japanese cinema entirely. Made in the 50's, the film hasn't aged at all: it's a film for all generations. The plot is very simple: An elderly couple visit their children, who are too busy to spend time with them. Their children continue to avoid them, purposely (even sending them off to a spa at one point), until a death brings all of them together, but only temporarily. That's the plot. But what emerges is a very *human* film, as the strongest human emotions are displayed on screen, and suddenly you feel the same emotions, and start thinking about your own life and your relationship with your parents. Even though Ozu is labeled as "the most Japanese" director, the themes in "Tokyo Story" are universal. Ethnicity doesn't matter. Age doesn't matter either; this movie makes an impact on adults as well as their children. And Ozu does all of this rather effortlessly. Nothing in the plot seems to unfold by surprise; things just happen. No fancy camera tricks either; in fact, almost no camera movement at all. The camera moves only twice in this 2+ hour film. All of these factors contribute to the greatness of the film, a film that we can learn a lot from, and one that we can return to every couple of years. And it is all done in the simplest manner possible. Criterion did a great job with the film. The film looks better than the VHS version, and the subtitles are easier to read. There's still a lot of grain and flickering, but one can only guess that the film itself was beyond major reparations. The commentary is informative (You'll learn a lot about Ozu's meticulous planning in each scene), and the extras, such as a 2 hour documentary on Ozu's life and work, will only result in you wanting to see all of his films. Supposedly more are on the way from Criterion, so stay tuned.
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Summary: Great Disc, Brilliant Audio Commentary
Review: David Desser's illuminating audio commentary opens the film up in new ways, allowing the viewer to understand Ozu's deceptively simple style with greater depth and appreciation. Demonstrating Ozu's mastery with imagery and in scene after scene, Dessler describes how Ozu builds subtle dimensions of emotional and thematic subtext using camera placement, movement and editing of shots. What may seems rather ordinary at first sudddenly becomes breathtaking and you'll marvel at Ozu's sheer economy of storytelling. Truly, Tokyo Story is a thing of beauty and this disc will show you why. One of Criterion's finest disc sets, and that's saying alot.
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Summary: Master Ozu's Film Will Make You Reflect
Review: Everyone who watches this film seems, inevitablly, to reflect on their own family. It is a great tribute to Ozu that we take his films to heart and relate them to ourselves. I have seldom been effected, myself, in such a way by a movie.
Technically, it is such a well made, unconventional, film. The low camera angles, steady unmoving camera, and fine acting of Ozu's films have been much talked about.
This is one of the Criterion dvd's that is worth every penny - even at $40 (the price I paid). To purchase a film that effects you in such a personal way - well, the price is really no issue - you should buy this movie and watch it!
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Summary: A window into the human condition
Review: Fifty years after this film's release and 100 years after Ozu's birth, audiences in America can now (re)discover this masterpiece. The slow tempo and laser-focus on human lives that Ozu employs is strangely moving. Within a minimalist frame, Ozu paints his characters richly. Instead of bombast, Ozu gives us authenticity. When good-natured parents leave their village to visit their grown children in the big city, it's easy to feel contempt when the parents are shuffled-off to a spa. Yet Ozu does not create villains. He also shows the goodness in these flawed characters. The children have eaked out a survival in Tokyo by struggling through the lean years after the war, which accounts in part for their callousness. Yet Ozu does not excuse their human failure, he is more interested in portraying them for the viewer to observe and be inspired. I think this film will move the viewer towards courtesy, kindness and compassion.
And with two DVDs included (the second with almost 3 hours of additional documentaries) it is worth the money.
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Summary: How Do You Feel About Your Family?
Review: I agree with the positive reviewers who have taken such great and personal pleasure in this movie. Ozu's style indeed seems restrained to 21st century American audiences, used to quick cuts and characters who can be summed up by their catch phrases. Here instead we are in a world more like a Jane Austen novel, focused on a few isolated characters and how they interact with each other. Only slowly do you realize the disappointment the central couple has in their adult children. The restraint of their emotions and the style of the film is what makes the viewer's increasing emotional awareness so much more powerful. Ozu shows how people can outwardly meet all societal expectations and obligations and yet remain oblivious to the needs of those they should be close to and "real" with. It's curious how other reviewers draw the moral that we all should, as Pete Seeger used to sing, "be kind to your parents, though they don't deserve it." This is a recurring theme with Ozu, what adult children owe their parents. I have had so many friends have parents visit from out of town and treat that visit with a kind of dread. So many of us think of family as being like fish -- starts to go bad after three days. If only there was an American Ozu to make a version of this movie about our contemporary culture. It would never be from the point of the view of the older people. I think that is part of the loss that people sense watching this movie -- that we have lost something ourselves by closing ourselves off from our parents, whatever our reasons might be.
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