Review: Tokyo Story

It is amazing that when watching a film, how much your state of mind can effect the experience of the film. About two years ago, I was in a different place with my life, working 50+ hours a week, rushing from place to place, a busy body in a big city. During that time, I attempted to watch Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story, and fell flat on my face. I couldn't make it through an hour without fast-forwarding or losing my concentration on the cinematic moments carefully portrayed within Ozu's classic film.


Now, two years later, I have learned how to slow down, I have learned that meditation can improve one's life, I have learned how to appreciate the mundane or real-life scenario. That is the beauty of transcendental style of film that Schrader believes the "Asian culture" of Zen thinking fits almost perfectly. The pairing makes sense when observing how the characters of Tokyo Story react to both the living of life and the movement of death. The children in the film were caught up in the Western industrial mindset of schedules, time, and work. They could not appreciate the nuances of life and enjoy the subtle joy of the living of that life. This is in stark contrast to the parents world of a Zen mindset, which is one of slowing down to think and meditate. They in turn do appreciate the little things like breathing or family.

When death finally came to a member of the family, the parents were prepared to deal with the finality of the end of a life exponentially more than the children were able to. I believe this is because of the pace of life each of them chose to live life. The children were shocked to find a life ending, even if it was lived long and well. Where the father knows that death is inevitable and simply says, "So this is how it ends." The understanding of the moment is evident and the beauty of the perspective is wonderfully captivating.