Rowan Sullivan

In a time when Japanese films were just reaching foreign shores, Tokyo Story director, Yasujiro Ozu, was considered too Japanese to be exported. His simplistic style and go-to themes reflect his very modest life. Ozu never married, living with his mother until the end of his life after he returned from service in the Second World War. His gravestone today bears one single Japanese character; the character of nothingness.

So why should you care about Yasujiro Ozu?

• He was one of the leading film-makers in Japan’s golden age of film (1950s).
• His techniques broke Hollywood’s unwritten rules of cinematography (how a film is shot).
• His films appeal to everyone with universal themes of family, time, and loss.
• Tokyo Story is ranked No.3 on Sight & Sound’s best films of ALL TIME!

What makes this film great?

1. Rule-Breaking Cinematography

You might have noticed the low placement of the camera in most of this film. The height of the camera is set to around 3 foot off of the ground, the same height as someone kneeling on a Tatami mat (the ‘tatami shot’). In Hollywood, a camera looking up at characters gives them power, in contrast, in Tokyo Story, this low camera feels respectful and open, as no character dominates a single scene.

You might have also noticed how in conversation, Ozu points the camera straight at the talking characters. In Hollywood, we would normally see characters talking from behind the shoulder of the character they are talking to, but here the focus on the talking character places us (the viewer) in the center of the conversation. It also completely exposes the characters to our judgment.

Another feature Ozu deliberately does not use is camera movement. There was only one moving shot in the whole film (apparently more than his other films), where the camera moves along a fence to show the elderly couple evicted by their children. Some of you might be put off by this, but fortunately for us, Ozu magically creates 360 degree spaces. The still shots force us to absorb everything he puts in front of us.

The still shots add tone by lingering at the beginning and end of each shot. For example, characters often leave the room before the director cuts to follow them into the next room. Again, this is completely different to Hollywood films which employed ‘invisible editing’ where the cuts between each shot are so smooth that you often don’t notice them. So maybe if you are confused about what cutting is, then you’ve probably just grown up surrounded by smooth Hollywood editing. (Follow this link to learn more about editing). The lingering shots in Tokyo Story force us to think about what has happened, a lot like the when a theater stage is changed in-between scenes.

Together, the effects that Ozu uses help to build the tone of the film. The camera conveys respect, serenity, and tradition. This probably sounds pretentious so I’ll quickly explain. The camera is respectful because it never cuts from that is speaking and usually looks each character straight in the eye when they are speaking. The camera is serene in the silence and empty spaces shown at the beginning and end of shots (through the lingering). Lastly, the camera represents tradition through the ‘tatami shot’ and its lack of movement (the only movement in the film signifies a progression of time. No progression = no modernization = tradition!). So there you have it! Cinematography (the art of camera-work) does an awful lot!

2. Themes! The battle of the Old vs. the New in Tokyo Story

 Tokyo Story shows what it was like to live in Japan in the post-war period. The Second World War drained a lot of resources from Japan and ultimately ended in defeat for Japan in 1945. Images of Tokyo are used to break up scenes of the family. It is mostly shown as industrial, with pictures of factories billowing smoke and railways. The city is busy with development and modernization which reflects in its inhabitants. All of the elderly couple’s children in Tokyo are too busy and pre-occupied to spend time with them. Their jobs in Tokyo have become their lives.

The modernization of Tokyo has favored work at the expense of tradition. This is obviously pointed out on a bus tour the elderly couple are taken on which shows ancient temples surrounded by modern buildings. The past is also forgotten by the children who are too wrapped up in their careers and self to spend time with their elderly parents. The grandchildren are even more distant, too sheltered to know who their grandparents are or the traditions that they represent. The traditional central role of the family has been destroyed within these three generations, family is no longer important.

Ozu was a supporter of tradition, evident in his ‘Tatami shots’ and late adoption of film with sound (even most of his sound films feature very little background music). It is therefore not surprising that he chooses an elderly couple and a respectful daughter in law to sympathize with. With their mother’s death in the final act, tradition breathes its last breath. After a brief sob, her daughter Shige disrespectfully asks her father if she can take her mother’s Kimono, a symbol of Japanese culture. With this Shige dilutes Japanese tradition and culture further as it is replaced by self-obsession.

3. Acting – Small-talk in Tokyo Story

Quickly, I would also like to point out the subtlety of the acting in Tokyo Story. Firstly, the grandparents convey a lot without speaking. For example, the grandpa, played by Chishu Ryu, conveys so much by gently nodding. It may sound silly, but think about it. Before leaving for Tokyo he nods with excitement at the neighbor when answering her questions about his upcoming trip. In Tokyo he nods respectfully and fairly formally when greeting his children that he has not seen in a long time (showing the distance between the generations). Later, his nods convey disappointment when his family asks him to stay somewhere else. Lastly, his nods convey deep sadness when talking to his neighbor and Noriko after his wife passes away. Do I still sound crazy?

As film critic Roger Ebert said of Tokyo Story: “given the opportunity as a family o share our hopes and disappointments, we talk about the weather and watch TV.” The formalities in family conversation during the film reflect Ebert’s statement. When speaking with their children, the parents make polite conversation. They only talk about their hopes and disappointments to their daughter-in-law Noriko and with the help of alcohol. The nods of the Grandpa are the only clue to his true feelings, marking the break in the two generations.

 What’s Next for Week 2?

I hope you enjoyed Tokyo Story as much as I did. Next week we will take a look at Japan’s most famous film director, Akira Kurosawa. Stick around for Samurai epic Ran, Kurosawa’s favorite film of his storied career. A mixture of Samurai genre and Shakespeare (King Lear), this film is truly epic in size (the beautiful landscapes and enormous casts are astonishing) and is worth watching just for the spectacle alone.

See you next week for more analysis and our next assignment!