Tokyo Story shows the relationship between two aged parents and their grown children. On a visit to Tokyo to visit their children, who turn out to be more busy and less successful than they supposed, they are unceremoniously shuffled from child to child and eventually to a resort. By the end of their trip, the mother relies on the kindness of her son's widow and the father becomes drunk and is escorted by the police to his daughter's home. Returning home the mother becomes sick and dies. The children return for the funeral and leave their father alone. How accurate is this portrayal of family life? Is this a "slice of life" (and part of the reason it feels as if "nothing happens")? Does this remind you of your family? Is this how families work? Focus on one scene or character and discuss what it tells us about the dynamics of family life.
Tokyo Story is a movie that tackles the complicated subject of family and how families grow over time; the film primarily focuses on how children grow from their parents. The movie makes viewers feel like they are watching a family's everyday life with its mixture of long takes and tatami shots, as well as through its storytelling, showing the personal sides of the family. One of the scenes that stuck out to me was when the father, Shukishi Hirayama, was drinking with his friends when one of them mentioned how they were disappointed in their son for not living up to his expectations. This led the friend to ask Shukishi if he ever felt the same. Shukishi responded that he felt the same way and was also disappointed in his son. I think this scene stands out as it accurately portrays families and reminds me of my own. I have seen and experienced expectations of myself, my brothers, and my parents throughout my life, and these expectations, at times, have been both positive and negative. Expectations are a part of family and come from a place of love, but they can also be highly hurtful and lead to resentment when unmet. Tokyo Story shows how these expectations can drive families apart as the viewer sees how the children act. One of the clearest examples of this is at the funeral, where the children seem indifferent after their mother's passing after the ceremony—asking for the mother's personal belongings and leaving the next day. These actions are contrasted by the daughter-in-law, who is one of the only people who seems genuinely hurt by the death and does the most for the father. This was for a number of reasons, but in my opinion, the largest is the lack of expectations set for the daughter-in-law. While the other children grew up with enormous expectations set on them by their parents, such as the oldest son being a disappointment for only being a small community doctor, the daughter-in-law faced no such unreasonable presumptions. I believe that the most critical takeaway from Tokyo Story is the effect of expectations on family.
ReplyDeleteTokyo Story is not a completely accurate depiction of family life. Tokyo Story is a movie that captures everyday life and parts of relationships that are very real, but when it comes to family, this film jumps to extremes. In many cases, your parents raise and care for you from birth. Considering that the parents in Tokyo Story still talk to their children in old age allows us to infer that they have been with them their whole lives. No part of the movie led us to believe that there were fights between the parents and children or any sort of irregular hatred the children held for their parents. That being considered, the children's behavior towards Shūkichi and Tomi was rather cruel. Shige’s actions throughout the movie especially did not sit right with me. At every turn, Kōichi and Shige in Tokyo tried to get rid of them, and after a few days of tolerating their parents, they sent them off to a cheap resort that they did not research very much and convinced themselves that it was for their parent's well-being. They also made excuses about being unable to spend time with their parents when it became evident after Tomi became ill that they most likely could have stepped away from their work for much more time than they presented. Another example of Shige's rude behavior was when Shige and Keizō acted torn up about their mother's passing and then left the first chance they got after the funeral without concern for their father. Keizō lightheartedly mentioned that he had to leave for a baseball game, and Shige was more concerned with taking her mother's clothes. She said one thing to her father about not drinking and then up and left. While I appreciate the message Ozu is sending with these actions, it is hard for me to believe that these people could act so coldheartedly right after a loved one has passed. Potentially, the reason I am so against Tokyo Story being an accurate depiction of family life is because of how much it conflicts with my own family experience. I still see all of my cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents, and my brother, who has gone to college, multiple times a year, and we are so close. I see family as a community of love and, even if family members are not close, respect. I understand that there are so many different family structures and situations in the world, but from what we saw in Tokyo Story, almost none of the actions by Shige or her siblings seem warranted or realistic to me.
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