Tokyo Story

Tokyo_Story_posterToday on my day off I watched  an old Japanese classic movie Tokyo Story by Yasujirō Ozu. This film was made before I was born in 1953 but it one of the greats. It has received the highest reviews. Not sure how I found out about it but probably reading about Japanese cinema and directors.

Yes, it is plodding but that is the point. About an older couple from the country visiting their grown kids in Tokyo but they do not have time for them.  (I know my kids will treat me better when I am older.)  There is some awesome dialogue about children, parents, grandparents and in-laws. I think the lesson from the film is that people are important to all of us but our family we often take for granted. Our opportunities to touch people’s lives is limited but we can make a strong impact because of our closeness. The widowed daughter-in-law Noriko is a saint. We would all love to have her in our lives.

The Japanese is not hard in the movie but there is a lot of Kansai dialect (unless it is western Japan dialect).  Most of the vocabulary is standard today.  Only a few words I have not heard. You may be able to catch it on YouTube with subtitles.

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