Filmstelle

Sukishi and his wife Tomi live idyllically in a small village with their youngest daughter. Her two other children have long since moved out and live in Tokyo. The elderly couple have never been there themselves and are on their way to visit their children in the big city. Once there, however, the children hardly have any time for their parents and only try to get rid of them.

Ozu is one of the grand masters of Japanese cinema and this is his opus magnum. In his calm and reserved style, he tells a touching story about love, family and loss. In other words: a story about life. Ozu mainly uses his classic, stationary camera perspective, which is usually very low. Otherwise, the film is kept very minimalist and leaves the actors plenty of room for their great performances.

Ozu does a great job of capturing the difference between rural life and the big city. In this way, as in other films, he deals with the conflict between tradition and modernity. With its skilful use of the city as a symbol of alienation, this film belongs in every urban cycle.

Jérôme Bewersdorff