Tôkyô kazoku (2013) Reviews

• Interesting color re-make of Ozu's "Tokyo Story"

  francislumd2013-04-12

  This film is a 2013 color re-make of Yasujiro Ozu's 1953 "Tokyo Story," that was voted the #1 film by directors in the 2012 Sight and Sound poll. The plot lines and characters are very similar with some distinct differences; even some lines of dialogue are the same or very similar. The biggest difference is that while Noriko in the 1953 film is the daughter-in-law of the elderly couple, whose son was killed in WWII, Noriko in the 2013 film is the future daughter-in-law engaged to the elderly second couple's son (much more developed in this film, not in a flattering way). In addition, the incomparable Setsuko Hara, known as the Japanese Garbo, played Noriko in the 1953 film and brought to the role a transcendent luminosity of compassion and wisdom. Secondly, while Ozu had a distinct cinematographic style of usually having the camera directly in front of the characters while they spoke, we see this much less frequently in the 2013 film. These are just a few of the differences. Overall, it is an interesting re-make, but Ozu's "Tokyo Story" is still one of the greatest films ever made.

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• No remake can do justice to such an inimitable classic as "Tokyo story"; and yet, "Tokyo family" has something to offer

  harry_tk_yung2013-04-25

  "Tokyo Monogatari" (1953) has purportedly been considered to be master auteur Yasujiro Ozu's own favorite, and by many others as his greatest. It takes a director with the caliber of Yoji Yamada ("Twilight samurai") to dare a remake. "Tokyo Monogatari" has been held so deep and dear in the hearts of many film lovers that a remake can almost be consider sacrilege. I confess to the fact that watching "Tokyo kazoku" (2013), I was asking myself "What's the point?" That is, until near to the end, when it suddenly clicked as I saw what Yamada is doing. Ozu is inimitable. "Tokyo Monogatari" is not remarkable. Yamada's work, however, is not so much a remake as an update. The backdrops are markedly different. The post-war world in "Tokyo Monogatari" is gloomy and depressing. "Tokyo kazoku" is set in today's post-IT-revolution world, with cell phone and all. The modern-day mood is familiar to us, excitement but also alienation in a modern world-class city. People are in general less subtle and more expressive. While not a shot-for-shot remake (say, as "Psycho") "Tokyo kazoku" generally follows "Tokyo Monogatari" very closely, particularly in the dialogue. However, there are some significant changes. One of the cleverest things I find is how Yamada uses the same dialogue and situation on the altered characters and scenarios. I'll come to that later. Let me to quote from a film critic: Long before the term "generation gap" was coined Ozu probed it profoundly. The central theme in Ozu's mind is the relationship between parents and children. This is also very much the case of Yamada. The two couples, the eldest son and daughter and their respective spouses, are very similar to their original counterpart. In both, the doctor and his kindly wife are left intentionally underdeveloped, so as not to overcrowd the film. The daughter is as attention-grabbing as in the original, compelling a question whether she is being selfish or just practical. Her husband has been given a little more of a comic relief role. One change, somewhat insignificant, is replacing the youngest daughter (back in the village) with the neighbor's daughter. The most significant change is on the two "single" young people. In the original, these two are the third son and the widow of the second son (who died during the war). In the remake, there is no third son, while the second son is not dead. This second son actually takes on the persona of the third son in the original – young and impatient. Obviously there is no longer a widow and the character is replaced by the second son's girlfriend, who has acquired the widow's name Noriko. With these changes comes the "something to offer" I cited in my summary line. One change is the introduction of the "Boromir/Faramir complex" which to "The Lord of the Rings" devotees would be quite obvious. It's the situation in which the father lopsidedly favors the older son, and is forever critical of the younger. In this case, the favoritism seems almost justifiable as the older son is a medical doctor (albeit not particularly distinguished) while the younger is sort of a drifter. Still, it's also the same old generation gap - just more acutely brought out. The biggest change, however, is in the woman. Old Noriko approaches being angelic, steadfastly maintaining her loyalty although her husband has been dead for 8 years. Her role in the film is pivotal. New Noriko has less of a role to play and yet it is a rather important role. In the final scenes, when they were on a ferry leaving the island, she is instrumental to a subtle reconciliation as she intimates to her boyfriend that his father wasn't really thinking badly of him after all. "He asked me to take care of you", she tells him. This is how it happened: the scene between the father and Noriko - how the same dialogue and situation is used for two very different scenarios. In the original, the father was thanking Noriko, repeating to her what the mother said about the time she spent with Noriko being the best time she had in Tokyo. He then gave Noriko the watch that the deceased mother left behind. This scene crystallized the almost saintly self-sacrifice of a widow of 8 years. The scene is repeated almost exactly with the new Noriko, but in an entirely different scenario. Here, the young girlfriend, although nice and tolerant all along, is not above occasional grumbles to her boyfriend about the outwardly cold, aloof and taciturn father. This is the "updating" I mentioned earlier. In today's world, one as angelic as the old Noriko would be a little removed from reality. The new Noriko is in fact more "human", someone we can relate to. It's the same scene with almost the exact same details, with just one difference. The new Noriko, upon realizing that the old man is after all kind and considerate, protests that she is not really as good as he describes, and breaks into sobs. Both scenes, old an new, are the most touching in the film, but in different ways. The old Noriko was played by legendary Setsuko Hara who will always remain one of the best loved actresses in Japan. The new Noriko is played by Yu Aoi, whose charm has been more than adequately demonstrated to those who have watched her in "Hana to Arisu' (2004) and "Flowers" (2010), just to name two of her many screen performances.

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• Showcasing a strong ensemble cast, Yoji Yamada speaks to the modern audience with his homage to the great Tokyo Story

  moviexclusive2013-10-12

  Cinephiles will tell you about the greatness of Tokyo Story, a 1953 Japanese film directed by Yasujiro Ozu. The story about an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children, only to have them being too busy to pay them much attention, is regarded as one of the most poignant tales ever told on screen. And as with every remarkable piece of work, there is a need to introduce it to a wider audience, hence the contemporary filmmakers' decision to produce Tokyo Family, an interpretation which you can either define as a remake, a tribute or an update. Yoji Yamada (The Twilight Samurai, The Hidden Blade) takes on this story and gives it a relatable angle to today's viewers. The plot is identical to the classic: An old couple from an isolated part of Japan takes the train to Tokyo to spend time with their grown children, not expecting them to be too occupied and indifferent to host them. A tragic death reunites the family in a quiet country town and has them coming to terms with how they have drifted apart because of selfishness. Made 60 years after the premiere of Tokyo Story and celebrating the 50th anniversary of the respected Ozu's death, this 146 minute film serves as a kind reminder of the importance of family ties. This is especially current in today's society, considering how new media and social expectations have changed how family members interact with each other. With that said, Yamada's latest work does not seem to offer anything refreshing. That is nothing surprising though, considering how Yamada was an assistant director of the earlier film. The 1954 graduate of Tokyo University painstakingly attempts to replicate the style of the original, from its slow pacing to how important events are revealed in dialogue instead of being shown on screen. Those who have watched the original (a large group would probably be film students) may find this version uninspiring, and the younger ones may find their patience being tested with the unhurried storytelling. However, do not let this make you feel that this is an unimportant piece of work. There are still pertinent themes which we as children ought to understand in this evergreen tale. There are times you know how things should work, but nothing works better than a screen visualisation to remind you of how things should be. There is strong acting from the cast here – Isao Hashizume and Kazuko Yoshiyuki shine in their roles as the unassuming parents who travel to bustling Tokyo from their quiet home on a small island, Masahiko Nishimura's unassuming screen presence gets to you as he plays a GP who runs a clinic from his home, Tomoko Nakajima flaunts her chops as a busy beauty parlour manager, while the charismatic Satoshi Tsumabuki takes on the role of the youngest son who is a freelance stagehand. Each member of the ensemble cast plays his or her character without outshining each other, and gives ample room for performance in the film's many key scenes. While Tokyo Family may not go down film history as a classic, it is still a commendable piece of work worth your time – if you are willing to sit down and appreciate life's slower moments.

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• Family relationships under a microscope when an elderly couple visits their three grown children in big city Tokyo

  JvH482013-04-05

  Saw this at the Berlinale 2013 film festival. It is an "update" on the famous original Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu, 1953), but I learned that only afterwards. I did not see the original before this one, so I cannot compare. An elderly couple who have lived in a remote village for many years already, bring a visit to their three grown children in the big city of Tokyo. The first half hour shows a lot of chit-chat between family members without really communicating with each other. It may be normal on such an occasion, when family members have no real common topics apart from ancient memories. Yet it leaves on me a depressing view on family relationships. I would not be surprised when this afterthought is deliberate, and as such intended by the film makers. The older son (doctor) is very occupied with his patients, and the daughter (beauty parlor) is very busy with her daily tasks. And the younger son who is not taken very seriously by the other family members, has decided to live his own life and moved out. Older son and daughter conspire to move the elderly couple from place to place, making their parents feeling lonely and deserted. Later on the parents are even shifted to a hotel, and a lot of arguments pass by why this is only for their own good (we know better than that). The story becomes interesting when mother and father follow a different route during one night. The mother meets the girl friend of the younger son, and there is an immediate "click". She even entrusts the girl friend with her savings, to use in case of an emergency, rather than giving it to her son, because the mother knows about his impulsive buying pattern. The father drinks too much in a bar, and arrives in the morning in a grumpy state. But (!) he immediately sees that his wife returned in a happy mood from whatever she did that night. What the latter was precisely, he would never know due to her sudden heart failure later that day. Sitting and waiting in the hospital brings the whole family together physically (but still not mentally), until the dreaded moment that the mother is declared dead. Eventually they all travel to the village where father and mother used to live, to attend the funeral rites. Of course, the older brother and sister cannot wait to return to their duties after the funeral, and only the younger son and his girl friend stay for a few extra days. When they are about to leave, we see a crucial scene when the father and the girl friend have a real talk together. Suddenly, we see the father figure in a very different light, before that time always seeming a father-knows-best figure, but after that scene we stand corrected. All in all, this microscopic study on family relationships proved very interesting, visualized very well, thereby portraying each family member in his/her own merits. There is no ending to spoil, and there is no real plot either. It is something that should be watched as it passes by on the screen. The actors perform very well in their respective roles, perfectly outlining each ones good and bad features. There are no bad guys in this movie, however, each pulls his weight in the busy ways of living and coping nowadays.

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• Yôji Yamada's remake of Ozu's Tokyo Story is a modern masterpiece of this classic Japanese story

  d-JCB2014-10-22

  9/10 watched an amazing film this morning… just when i was trying to get to sleep after another "up till sunrise" night… it's called Tokyo Family by Yôji Yamada, a tribute to legendary Japanese director Yasujirô Ozu and his most famous film, Tokyo Story from 1953… it's quite similar in idea, where older parents from a country sea side town come to Tokyo to visit their kids / grand kids, but no one really has time for them… Tokyo has this high paced way of living, while in the country the old folks just kick back and enjoy life go by… the relationship between the father and son reminded me of my situation with dad who recently passed away - my personality & outlook in life is like mine while the fathers is like my dad… also there's a death in the film where the whole family has to go thru, very sudden like dad's circumstances… it destroyed me, but in a good way cause it allowed be to grieve a bit more, cause I've been resisting it a bit since dad's funeral… it really is a heart breaking film, and like death it is hard for all family members to endure… in the film the funeral & wake were very beautiful, respectful… all the family got together like we all did… it finishes on a positive note that life must go on, the father becomes more accepting of the son & vice versa… thru this death in the family they break their stand off between each other and bond in their own unique way… instant 9/10 & keen to watch it again… u should too, to see the contrasts between generations, traditions & cities… old times compared to modern times… something that will be timeless, just like Yamada modernising the Ozu 50s masterpiece with another masterpiece that will be also treasured for generations to come…

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