Tokyo Story

Director: Yasujirō Ozu
Year Released: 1953
Rating: 3.0

Elderly parents visit their sons and daughters - long since married and moved away - in Tokyo, only to realize that they are disappointed in what their offspring have made out of their lives - and their families, on the other hand, don't want to deal with them anymore. Ozu's ideas are absolutely remarkable, which may lead some to find this one of his greatest films, but his formalist rigor and deliberate pacing (not to mention the way he sticks the camera directly in front of his actors' faces in order for them to say their lines or emote, usually with an "Ahh" or "Hmm") work against the film's calculated impact. Still and all, it's hard to gripe about the Master, whose films should be cherished.