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Tokyo Story
(Tokyo monogatari)

Screening on Film
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu.
With Chishu Ryu, Chiyeko Higashiyama, Setsuko Hara.
Japan, 1953, 35mm, black & white, 134 min.
Japanese with English subtitles.
Print source: Janus Films

Ozu’s sad, simple story of generational conflict is often regarded as the filmmaker’s greatest achievement and a landmark in the practice of narrative cinema. In precisely composed images that detail the objects and spaces of daily life, Ozu presents the story of an elderly couple who pay a visit to various busy, self-absorbed offspring in Tokyo. Ozu’s examination of the slow fracturing of the contemporary Japanese family is filled with quiet resignation and the realization that tradition is subject to change.

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Rosine Mbakam, 2025 McMillan-Stewart Fellow