Thematically Speaking | Tokyo Story

Thematically Speaking is the Donnybrook Writing Academy’s contribution to the literature of film. Thrice monthy, Fritz Godard – Donnybrook’s maven of cineama – will examine three films with thematic resonance, leaving no frame undigested and no performance unexamined. Lord Godard will reveal new depth in your old favorites, as well as illuminate neglected works of the motion picture canon. After a brief trip to the south of France, Thematically Speaking returns for the final installment of the initial run, which has already included examinations of The Philadelphia Story and The Palm Beach Story.

We’ve seen Tokyo. We’ve seen Atami. Let’s go home.
-Shukishi Hirayama

Tokyo Story is Yasujiro Ozu’s masterwork. This film is like a literary adaptation of a book that was never written. It’s a film that takes every advantage of the cinematic realm to tell a story that’s anything but cinematic. Instead of mucking up the frame with plot contrivances, Ozu sets the camera low and shoots the beauty of everyday life in post-war Tokyo. The kneejerk reaction is to say this film is the anti-Michael Bay film, but even Bay takes from Ozu. Like Bay, Ozu isn’t afraid to use every inch of the set and location. The difference being that instead of a swirling camera swooping around robots fighting asteroids in Miami Beach, Ozu has static shots of normal people’s daily routines in low-income Tokyo homes.

While The Philadelphia Story and The Palm Beach Story were about young couples, Tokyo Story takes a giant leap down the marital timeline. Shukishi (Chishu Ryu) and Tomi Hirayama (Chieko Higashiy) are a couple who have long out-grown the marital angst. But more than maturity has made this a successful marriage. Ozu is less worried about entertainment than he is about using cinema to capture everyday life. Thusly, Ozu doesn’t use marriage simply as a plot device; there is social weight and obligation behind this marriage. The film begins with the look at the sleepy little village where the couple resides. Ozu introduces the film with a series of exteriors that feel like they go on for a second too long. This isn’t a mistake or even a lack of patients from the western audience; Ozu is using what most filmmakers throw away to establish the tone and mood of the film. Before the elderly couple is even finished packing, the feel of the movie is firmly cemented.

The literary elements of the film far surpass most contemporary novels. Throughout the film, Ozu places major plot points off-screen, then begins the next scene by revealing the importing information through nonchalant dialogue. As the couple packs, they discuss their visit to see one of their children on the way to Tokyo, but Ozu doesn’t show the side trip, and doesn’t even introduce the character until the last third of the film. When he finally makes an appearance on the screen, it isn’t until he reveals another important off screen event that the audience knows he is part of the family. One of the films most beautiful scenes is between two housekeepers as they clean a hotel room. These characters are never seen again. If they ended up on the cutting room floor, the movie wouldn’t change beyond a shorter running time, but this scene is the essence of literary filmmaking.

This film is two-plus hours of character study, but the study doesn’t involve the slightest curve of a character arch. Ozu introduces to a family, and simply lets their lives play out on screen. There are no moments of epiphany. The couple’s oldest daughter is introduced as a selfish uncaring woman and her last scene of the film shows just another way she puts herself first. The film opens in the Hirayama’s home far from Tokyo and it ends in the same location, bookended by identical shots. Just like the characters of the film, they have the same habits at the beginning of the film as they do at the end. The characters never have the foresight to see their own faults. The universal aspects of everyday life portrayed on the screen allows the audience a reflective look at themselves. The epiphany moment was never intended for these characters, but instead the perceptive audience is allowed to say “Ah-a.”

This isn’t one you pop into the DVD player to unwind after a long day. It’s an event to be savored, like the birth of a child or the slow dissolving a sour apple Jolly Rancher.

“Thematically Speaking” will return. In the mean time, I’m eagerly awaiting suggestions for the next theme to tackle, so please include them in the comment field.