Classics Tip

Yasujiro Ozu s most enduring masterpiece, Tokyo Story, is a beautifully nuanced exploration of filial duty, expectation and regret. From the simple tale of the elderly Hirayma couple s visit to Tokyo to see their grown-up children, Ozu draws a compelling contrast between the measured dignity of age and the hurried insensitivity of a younger generation. A constant fixture of critics polls, Tokyo Story is now available for the first time on Blu-ray from the BFI.

Also contains full length feature Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family, a sharp critique of bourgeois frivolity, as an extra.

Extra Features:

• Dual Format Edition: includes both Blu-ray and the DVD versions of the main feature
• Also contains full length Ozu feature, Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family (DVD only)
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Extensive illustrated booklet featuring essays and film notes
• Dolby Digital mono audio (320 kbps)

Yasujiro Ozu's most widely distributed and best-known film presents the story of an elderly couple in post World War II Japan who come to Tokyo to visit their various children and realise that the family has essentially fallen apart. The couple is received coldly by their two modernized children and only their widowed daughter-in-law seems glad to see them. The children shuttle their aging parents off to a health spa in an attempt to get them out of the way. They learn later that the mother has fallen ill upon her return and arrive too late to say their good-byes.