I don't mean to imply that people are faking it or trying to be trendy or anything like that. Sometimes I don't enjoy a film but I can see why other people might like it. For this particular film I truly am baffled how it ends up in some of the top 10 of all time lists. I don't understand what this film is doing that is supposed to be so great, better than on the waterfront for example.
There was absolutely no conflict or dramatic tension that I could see. And it kept bringing up the same point over and over that the children are disinterested.. doesn't make it any more powerful that they are still disinterested two hours later. No accounting for taste, everyone likes something different.
Yeah I kind of figured you didn't mean people were faking it. I actually also don't like it when people are dishonest about their tastes and accept masterpieces for no reason other than to agree with critics. I'm really into Japanese cinema and it's history, and into many other national cinemas. So when someone states that they love foreign cinema because they've seen one Kurosawa film or a Godard film, and they don't even REALLY like that film, that kind of pisses me off. I think a case can be made against many canonized directors and films, however, I think before we evaluate a film we must first properly understand it. I used to really dislike Godard until I understood him, and now I can see why he's a genius. If I did learn to understand him and still hated him, well then I would make a case against him.
Well I think with regards to appreciating
Tokyo Story (and most of Ozu's works) it is a matter of what you expect in cinema. Ozu's cinema is much different than most cinema in Japan let alone the cinema of the U.S. You can see through his use of narrative ellipsis that he intentionally chooses not to show scenes that Hollywood would exploit, his stylistic minimalism is also always present, and I'm not sure if you noticed the precision of his compositions. His stories are based almost entirely on character, if you look at many of his works, they share a similar plot descriptions but it is the subtle differences in character that change the entire film. I could write a lot about why I love Ozu, but others have done it before and better than I ever could. Critics such as Donald Richie, Tadao Sato, Paul Schrader, and David Bordwell have done an amazing job at covering Ozu's thematic, stylistic, and formal concerns.
The funny thing is that we analyze his films so much, when he was just your ordinary Japanese studio director who was so obsessed with his art that it was elevated from Japanese melodrama that appealed to Japanese women during the postwar era, into one of the greatest filmographies (in the eyes of many cinephiles and critics) of all-time.
Another great filmmaker of the
shomin-geki genre (the realistic drama that Ozu worked in for the most part) is Mikio Naruse. I have a feeling that you'd like Naruse more than Ozu. Where Ozu is a lake, Naruse is a river. His films are stronger in their emotional content, yet I feel they lack the balance that Ozu has. They are both great filmmakers, but Ozu appeals to me more. Ozu is also more consistent, but that has more to do with the fact that he had full creative control unlike Naruse, they really are both equally talented (I think Ozu, Naruse, Kurosawa, and Mizoguchi are all equally talented masters but they just appeal to different people).
With Ozu, I just love that he has so many characters that are similar to those that I find in life. I like his stories because they are simple, yet profound. Near the end of Tokyo Story, the youngest sister asks Noriko, "Isn't life disappointing?" to which Noriko replies "Yes, it is." In light of the film's events (or rather the way the events are presented) these words ring very true and are very deep. I love Ozu's compositions as well, he really has a sense of where to place objects in his compositions. I also love his use of pillow shots, he's one of the few narrative filmmakers that can use pure cinematography to strengthen his vision even when it is not used to drive the narrative. I have to get in the mood to watch Ozu though, because I know I can't watch many films before watching one of his masterpieces and I can't watch many films after it, because I really just want to inhabit his world and not ever leave it.
I wonder, do you like Robert Bresson? His style of cinema is very similar to Ozu in many ways, I'd say that he's a European equivalent to Ozu, although he's much more extreme in his style (he literally developed non-acting for his films, he preferred to call his actors,
models).
For me, Yasujiro Ozu is the greatest filmmaker of all-time, but I can see why others may dislike him. He's an extreme formalist who tries to have a very balanced vision, and he never tries to 'sell' you a story I guess, he just tells you the truth as he sees it. And the truth does not always have plot twists or dramatic tension, sometimes it just is. Ozu is more of an observer than a storyteller, he's more in line with making cinema that is poetry. Yes, he has stories, and I feel they are great stories, but they are different than most of the stories told through narrative cinema.
Tokyo Story is more about just the fact that the children are disinterested. Why are they disinterested? You should look at how the culture and the struggles of postwar Japan affects the entire family. A big part of the film (which is told more subtly) is the fact that Japan as a growing nation is changing the way families are in Japan. There is also a lot more to the story but I'd have to explain even more at length lol.
A lot of great Japanese filmmakers and critics share your opinion that this is a horrible film for similar reasons (and more political ones as well), but I think it's mostly because the subtle expression didn't appeal to them. I think you'd enjoy the Japanese New Wave much more, those guys hated Ozu and his like with a passion and made awesome films as well, though they were edgier, more overtly experimental, subversive, and less subtle. Many Ozu fans do not feel that this is his best work, or even necessarily his most accessible. It's his most popular simply because it was the first one to get exposure in Europe and the United States. I'm not sure whether I like
Tokyo Story or
Late Spring more, but they are both my favorite films of all-time, I still have a lot more to go with Ozu's films though!
Sorry for rambling so much lol, I tend to do that!
Although you really disliked the film, I'm glad you gave it a shot! It's always good to try to expand one's tastes even if it fails and you end up hating a film lol.
You might like Leo McCarey's
Make Way For Tomorrow,
Tokyo Story is actually based on that film. I haven't seen it yet, but since it's a classic Hollywood film it may suit your tastes more.
EDIT: Oh yeah, I love
On The Waterfront and I feel it's a perfect masterpiece as well. I don't know why Elia Kazan is so underrated by both mainstream and more esoteric critics, he was a genius at crafting scenes and bringing characters to life. Some people hate
On The Waterfront for what it stands for during the HUAC trials, which I think is a very stupid reason to hate a film lol.
On The Waterfront and
Tokyo Story are two completely different types of films though, they both aim for different things, so comparing them doesn't help much. I'm not very much into definitive rankings of films with critics and whatnot, I like what I like and I dislike what I dislike. I think there are tons of great films that are equal in quality but appeal to different people. Fortunately both Elia Kazan and Yasujiro Ozu appeal to me. But I think there must be great films out there that I dislike.
