Rating: 5/5
Criterion Challenge 2023 | 7/52 | Films to Fall Asleep To
Only the color remains as it was back then
Noriko (Setsuko Hara) is a twenty-seven-year-old who lives with her father, Professor Shukichi Somiya (Chishū Ryū).
Shukichi is a widower, and his daughter has not been married. Noriko became sick during the war but is getting better.
Noriko takes a trip to Tokyo, where she sees a friend of her father’s, Professor Jo Onodera, who was a widower and recently remarried. The idea of getting remarried bothers Noriko, which she tells Onodera to his face. He laughs at the thought.
Meanwhile, Shukichi’s sister, Masa, believes that it’s time Noriko gets married. They work together to find a match for Noriko. All the while, Shukichi may find someone he wishes to marry.
I saw Tokyo Story ages ago before I realized it’s the third movie in a trilogy, but I don’t think you need to have seen the previous two — they carry over Noriko.
It’s wild to think that this film went through strict censorship by the Allied Powers’ military occupation. They found some ideas “outdated” and “feudalistic,” contradicting the censor’s aim to bring Japan into the modern era.
And yet, Ozu could still subvert the censorship and present his appreciation for Japanese tradition.
Ozu builds gorgeous compositions in every frame, insisting on a still, measured performance from the actors.
His frequent use of multiple shots for establishing the scene for each transition influenced manga and anime. This stylistic choice is now almost synonymous with Japanese culture because of its prevalence in media.
His sense of timing and space slows the story down, intentionally so, giving the film a more reflective nature. He lets us watch characters think and feel without giving us an explanation for what could motivate them. This stylistic pacing has become a staple of the contemporary slow cinema movement.
Quiet, beautiful, and lighthearted, the film tells a slice-of-life story with deep emotional undercurrents.
It’s hard to overstate the impact of this landmark film on cinema history.