Tokyo Sonata is a masterpiece, an excellent exploration of alienation and the breakdown of the domestic unit amidst a contemporary and (ironically) increasingly globalised society.

Although the title of the film, its poster and its trailer seem to suggest that Tokyo Sonata is a poignant family film about music, the film is clearly not. Kiyoshi Kurosawa, the director of the film, has made various notable horror films before this, and if anything, Tokyo Sonata can be considered as a horror film too, presenting a terrifying image of modern life and modern times. Also, if you do get around to seeing the film, it is really not anything melodramatic. Cold, distant and in possession of some thriller elements would be a more fitting description.

Hence I propose that the title of the film is in fact, or at least can be interpreted as, a reference to the city symphonies very popular in the early 20th century, such as Chelovek s kino-apparatom (1929, Vertov)and Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt (1927, Ruttman). While city symphonies mostly promoted their cities by portraying them in flattering light along with triumphant music, Tokyo Sonata has a a tendency to deride against Tokyo, cutting to long shots of Tokyo’s highways and construction sites after various complications occur, as though to incriminate Tokyo in the development of such complications. Hence through its title and content, the film makes it clear to us that we are not watching a drama about an isolated situation but a case study of larger social problems derived from the socio-economic conditions of the entire city.

The cinematography here is impeccable. Masterfully framed long takes are often used and Kurosawa clearly has an eye for staging. I also particularly enjoyed the fact that he uses manual focus very selectively. Most of the time, the film does employ some level of manual focus, but not to a very noticeable stylistic extent as many films that employ manual focus today do. He only uses manual focus during key moments such as one that occurs when certain people meet at a shopping centre. It works really well. And the shots of the beach are just brilliant. Speaking of brilliant shots, yet another aspect I liked a lot was the frequent framing of the characters in the house behind blurred objects and frames, clearly establishing the theme of alienation that runs central to the film.

The sound design is very good too. Dissonant notes come in at the right time and silence is always used properly.

Moving away from the technical aspects, the film also seems to weave in a rather existential philosophy. One has to live simply because he is alive, the mother once says. The characters in Tokyo Sonata continue living because they exist, not having anything to really work for, existing exclusively as lost and meandering wanderers, trapped in social expectations.

One of the greatest films of this decade that I have seen. I highly recommend it.