I cried a lot watching Tokyo Story, my heart unravelling with the film.
The way Ozu does it is masterful.
There is always this sense that you can’t know what to expect next.
A tension that clings to your skin even though everything seems normal.
The cinematography is beautiful to the point of making me jealous – perfect black and white tones and a low, watchful camera angle.
So simple you fall in love.
And through the screen, Ozu somehow makes you taste summer.
I don’t want to write too much in case you haven’t seen it.
This is a film about elemental humanity and universal human emotions, and after 70 years, it still resonates.
It will probably resonate for as long as we still want to watch films.
Now I understand why they say this is Ozu’s masterpiece and also the film that Wim Wenders said has had a life-long pull on him.
I went down the rabbit hole and realised that Wim Wenders was so obsessed he went to the small coastal town where ‘the story begins and ends’ and made a book. I love it. The coolest coincidence? I’m going to Japan in a couple of weeks and I was planning to visit Onomichi!