Tokyo Story

Tokyo Story (東京物語, Tokyo Monogatari) is a 1953 Japanese movie by Yasujiro Ozu, in which elderly parents visit their busy children in Tokyo and are neglected by them. It stars Setsuko Hara. The children genuinely wish to spend time with their parents, and do, however as they have lives of their own they find it difficult to maintain a balance between the two.

The story does not rely on dramatized moments and Hollywood plot points ; instead, as is common with the filmmaker's works, is deliberately-paced. Camera shots are typically at sitting-mat level and seldom change. At one point in the film the camera pans away from a stationary view, "a high number for his films", film critic Roger Ebert half-humorously reports. A personal fan of Ozu's works, Mr. Ebert gave it his highest rating.

Tokyo Story is regularly listed as one of the ten greatest films ever made in Sight and Sound magazine's regular polls of directors and critics. Movie preservers The Criterion Collection recently cleaned up and reissued the black and white film on a 2-dvd set.