Tokyo Story is a Japanese movie that was directed by Yasujiro Ozu. It was released in 1953 and eventually gained fame. Many critics said that this movie was Ozu’s masterpiece and is one of the greatest films of all time. In 2012, it was still highly regarded, having been voted as the best film of all time in a poll. Tokyo Story was loosely based on the movie Make Way for Tomorrow, but many people thought that it was “too Japanese” at the time of its release. However, over twenty years later, it was screened in London, and nearly forty years after its release, it was screened in New York City. In both locations, the movie was well received and won awards and garnered praise from various critics.
Tokyo Story is a drama film that tells of an elderly couple whose children have all grown up and left their home. All of them work in Tokyo, the capital of Japan, and are extremely busy, too rushed to care about many things. When the elderly couple travel to Tokyo to visit them, their children do not pay much attention because they are too busy with their own lives. However, juxtaposed against the busy and thoughtless ones, the couple’s daughter-in-law, who has been widowed, treats the couple with kindness. Tokyo Story explores the themes of love and the deteriorating connections between family.
