‘Masterpieces’ Essay on Tokyo Story
And I agree that it gets better with each viewing. It burrows deeper and deeper into your heart each time.
I was lucky enough to see Tokyo Story in Japan at a ‘meet and great’ japanese cinema art forum. Loved Ozu’s work ever since. Wierdly, perhaps my favourite Ozu is ‘The Flavour of Green Tea over Rice’ – I roared with laughter through much of it – a very funny movie. The fact that I spotted much in my own relationship probably speaks volumes though!!
There is one thing about Tokyo Story I don´t look through. Bordewell wrote the original negative was destroyed by fire. Other people told me the original negative was very hard damaged. Another source tells that the digital restoration was made with the help of notes by cinematographer Atsuta (who was very preceise about what light he used in every scene etc.) The only fact I have that all the prints I saw during retrospectives were not the hit. A japanese filmcritic told me that while the negative was destroyed, a very new print of TOKYO STORY made for Poland (!) was the source for a ne negative.
Eli Goodspeed
It appears viewing this film more than once is a necessity to really appreciate it. Upon first viewing, I didn’t like it as much as Autumn Afternoon and Floating Weeds, but seeing it again, its impact was much harder. My theory: If it gets better every time you see, it’s a masterwork – your consciousness evolves with each viewing.