Tokyo Story

Tokyo Story

Criterion Collection Edition #217

Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1953 • Japan
Starring Chishu Ryu, Chieko Higashiyama, Setsuko Hara

A profoundly stirring evocation of elemental humanity and universal heartbreak, TOKYO STORY is the crowning achievement of the unparalleled Yasujiro Ozu. The film, which follows an aging couple’s journey to visit their grown children in bustling postwar Tokyo, surveys the rich and complex world of family life with the director’s customary delicacy and incisive perspective on social mores. Featuring lovely performances from Ozu regulars Chishu Ryu and Setsuko Hara, TOKYO STORY plumbs and deepens the director’s recurring theme of generational conflict, creating what is without question one of cinema’s mightiest masterpieces.

Tokyo Story
  • Tokyo Story

    Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1953 • Japan
    Starring Chishu Ryu, Chieko Higashiyama, Setsuko Hara

    A profoundly stirring evocation of elemental humanity and universal heartbreak, TOKYO STORY is the crowning achievement of the unparalleled Yasujiro Ozu. The film, which follows an aging couple’s journe...

Extras

  • TOKYO STORY Commentary

    Recorded in 2003, this audio commentary features David Desser, editor of the volume “Ozu’s TOKYO STORY.”

  • Marlon James on TOKYO STORY

  • Talking with Ozu

    Created by Shochiku studios to commemorate the ninetieth anniversary of director Yasujiro Ozu’s birth, this 1993 documentary features filmmakers Stanley Kwan, Aki Kaurismäki, Claire Denis, Lindsay Anderson, Paul Schrader, Wim Wenders, and Hou Hsiao-hsien reflecting on the importance of Ozu and hi...

  • I Lived, But . . .

    Directed by Kazuo Inoue, the 1983 documentary I LIVED, BUT . . . features interviews with actors Chishu Ryu, Mariko Okada, and Haruko Sugimura; filmmaker Shohei Imamura, director Yasujiro Ozu’s former assistant; critics Donald Richie and Tadao Sato; and many others on whom Ozu had a profound impact.

  • Chishu Ryu and Shochiku’s Ofuna Studio

    This documentary from 1988 looks at actor Chishu Ryu’s sixty-year career with Shochiku and the work he did at its Ofuna Studio, including his many celebrated roles in the films of Yasujiro Ozu.