Drama
Japanese (Tōkyō Monogatari)
1953 · Directed by Yasujirō Ozu · 137 min
An elderly couple leave their small town in western Japan to visit their grown children in postwar Tokyo. Ozu watches this ordinary trip with stillness and gentle humour, asking what family members owe one another as life speeds up.
Why it matters in cinema history
A defining work of the Japanese golden age and of the shomin-geki family drama, it carried Ozu's distinctive minimalism to an international audience and became a reference point for quiet, observational cinema.
Watch with intention
Watch it as a film about attention: how people look at one another, and how the camera patiently looks at them.
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