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Tôkyô monogatari (1953)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
13 March 1972 (USA) morePlot:
An old couple visit their children and grandchildren in the city; but the children have little time for them. full summary | full synopsisPlot Keywords:
moreAwards:
2 wins moreNewsDesk:
(5 articles)
Queens Theatre In The Park Announces 2009-2010 New York Film Series (From CinemaRetro. 1 October 2009, 12:35 PM, PDT)
Still Talking (to Hirokazu Kore-eda)
(From GreenCine Daily. 22 August 2009, 1:37 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
The excuses we make to justify our neglect of others more (68 total)Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Chishû Ryû | ... | Shukishi Hirayama | |
| Chieko Higashiyama | ... | Tomi Hirayama | |
| Setsuko Hara | ... | Noriko Hirayama | |
| Haruko Sugimura | ... | Shige Kaneko | |
| Sô Yamamura | ... | Koichi Hirayama | |
| Kuniko Miyake | ... | Fumiko Hirayama - his wife | |
| Kyôko Kagawa | ... | Kyoko Hirayama | |
| Eijirô Tôno | ... | Sanpei Numata | |
| Nobuo Nakamura | ... | Kurazo Kaneko | |
| Shirô Osaka | ... | Keiso Hirayama | |
| Hisao Toake | ... | Osamu Hattori | |
| Teruko Nagaoka | ... | Yone Hattori | |
| Mutsuko Sakura | ... | Patron of the Oden Restaurant | |
| Toyo Takahashi | ... | Shukichi Hirayama's Neighbor (as Toyoko Takahashi) | |
| Tôru Abe | ... | Train employee |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
136 minCountry:
JapanLanguage:
JapaneseColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 moreSound Mix:
MonoCertification:
Brazil:18 | Hong Kong:I | Sweden:Btl | Portugal:M/12 | Finland:S | UK:U | Spain:T | Singapore:PGFun Stuff
Trivia:
Voted #7 in Total Film's 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time list (November 2005). moreGoofs:
Revealing mistakes: The "dead" mother is visibly breathing. moreFAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (68 total)
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An appreciation of this movie may demand some understanding of Japanese culture. The Japanese are rather reserved, and were even more reserved back in the early 1950's, when this film is set. No embracing, even of parents, children, siblings; no dramatic histrionics; even a death scene in this movie is much quieter than a Westerner might expect.
Consequently I can't really blame several reviewers here for calling this movie boring and slow-paced. But it is not at all slow-paced from a different cultural perspective. It just depends on what you're used to.
If you do take the time to watch and try to understand it, you'll find an engrossing analysis of the dynamic of a middle-class family, the rift that grows up between generations, and of the many excuses we find ourselves making to justify our neglect for others, even those dearest to us. These themes are universal, but are couched in a postwar Japanese idiom, and so probably less accessible to the average Western viewer.
I have wondered awhile about a speech at the end by Noriko, the widowed daughter-in-law, in which she denies that she's such a good person (though her actions in the movie indicate otherwise). I'm still not sure I understand her motives in saying this. For the most part, however, this movie will not leave you puzzled, but it may leave you a bit wiser, and a bit more reluctant to make those excuses.