Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story (1953) has received a preliminary release date: April 19th. Courtesy of BFI.
Roger Ebert:
Quote:
Yasujiro Ozu's "Tokyo Story" tells a tale as simple and universal as life itself. It is about a few ordinary days in the lives of some ordinary people, and then about the unanticipated death of one of them. What it tells us about the nature of life or death is not new or original -- what could be? -- but it is true.
Ozu's story can be summarized in a few words. An old couple make the long train trip to Tokyo to visit their children. During their stay of a week or 10 days, they are treated politely but with a certain distraction; life moves quickly in the big city, and there is not always time for the parents and their courtly provincial ways. On the train journey home, the mother falls ill. The children are summoned, and all but one are at the bedside when she dies.
There is great sadness, of course, and sympathy for the old father. But life must go on. The children were casually indifferent to their parents in life. Now that the mother is dead, they speak of their regrets that they didn't do more for her; but they also maneuver quietly for some of her possessions, and within a day after the funeral they have all returned to the city, leaving the father alone.
Of all the relatives, the one who is most considerate of the father is not even a blood relative: a daughter-in-law, the widow of a son who died, was the warmest toward the old couple when they were in Tokyo, and now she is the kindest to the old man. He tells her, after his wife's funeral, that she should remarry as soon as possible. "My son is dead," he says, "and it is not right for you not to marry." He says he would feel better if she forgot his son; he does not see any irony in this attitude, so soon after his wife's funeral, and perhaps there really isn't any.
"Tokyo Story" was made in 1953, or at about the same period that a group of great Japanese films was beginning to make a first impression on Western audiences. The best known are "Rashomon," "Ugetsu Monogatari" and "Gates of Hell." But "Tokyo Story" was not imported at that time, and its current national release represents a kind of posthumous tribute to Ozu.
It is clear that "Tokyo Story" was one of the unacknowledged masterpieces of the early-1950s Japanese cinema, and that Ozu has more than a little in common with that other great director, Kenji Mizoguchi ("Ugetsu"). Both of them use their cameras as largely impassive, honest observers. Both seem reluctant to manipulate the real time in which their scenes are acted; Ozu uses very restrained editing, and Mizoguchi often shoots scenes in unbroken takes.
This objectivity creates an interesting effect; because we are not being manipulated by devices of editing and camera movement, we do not at first have any very strong reaction to "Tokyo Story." We miss the visual cues and shorthand used by Western directors to lead us by the nose. With Ozu, it's as if the characters are living their lives unaware that a movie is being shot. And so we get to know them gradually, begin to look for personal characteristics and to understand the implications of little gestures and quiet remarks.
"Tokyo Story" moves quite slowly by our Western standards, and requires more patience at first than some moviegoers may be willing to supply. Its effect is cumulative, however; the pace comes to seem perfectly suited to the material. And there are scenes that will be hard to forget: The mother and father separately thanking the daughter-in-law for her kindness; the father's laborious drunken odyssey through a night of barroom nostalgia; and his reaction when he learns that his wife will probably die.
We speak so casually of film "classics" that it is a little moving to find one that has survived 20 years of neglect, only to win Western critical acclaim nine years after the director's death.
wow.
another seminal classic gets a bd release.
this movie was like #4 I think on Time magazine's 100 greatest films of all time.
I have been waiting for a bd release to watch it for the first time.
guess Criterion will be releasing it in the US eventually.
will definitely import this one.
seriously? I'm shocked that this is happening. Not that I doubt ProB, but it does seem incredibly unusual that this is being released before any Ozu BDs have been issued in Japan. But then again maybe they are getting around it by being a Region B locked release.
I've read that the BFI acquired a lot of his films and will be releasing them through 2010
Last edited by manicsounds; 12-21-2009 at 11:42 AM.
Amazon's preorder is claiming the disc is being put out by Lace Group. Are they part of BFI or did a new company get the rights?
I would ignore what Amazon.UK indicates. For some unknown to me reason, they - very often as of late - make up distributors that do not exist and/or misplace important information.
I hope it is released soon this year. Can't say I agree with it being one of the all-time greatest films (especially not number one). I have seen it, and while there are some absolutely brilliant composed shots, it's not one I'd re-watch too much.
Agree with the above, it's one of those movies that critics fall over themselves to praise but won't appeal to many. In other words I could appreciate its brilliance without particularly enjoying watching it. Either way I find it hard to believe the Blu-ray will improve substantially on the picture or extras quality of the Criterion DVD.
DVDBeaver also have an amazon link for Early Summer
& Late Spring
This is great news & all from the BFI.
I taught getting my M Blu-Ray yesterday, which I'm just about to watch,
Would be my Blu-Ray highlight of the day...
Due to a technical issue, the BFI has had to move back the DVD/Blu-ray release of Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story and Early Summer from 26 April to 19 July 2010, when they will be released alongside Ozu’s Late Spring. All three titles will appear in the new BFI Dual Format Editions packaging.
Sometimes, but these are far more likely to be region-locked to B given that none have been released in Japan (Region A) and Criterion may do them in the USA.
Sometimes, but these are far more likely to be region-locked to B given that none have been released in Japan (Region A) and Criterion may do them in the USA.
Thanks I really need to get myself a multi region player
The BFI's policy is to release region-free whenever possible.
Unfortunately, in these cases (and all the BFI's other Ozu releases), it wasn't possible - the Japanese rightsholder made region-locking a contractual condition, presumably to protect their own native market in Region A.
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Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu)
I really need to get myself a multi region player
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