In this film Ozu explores and shows great respect for the small, private suffering in each of our lives. He does this in the most UNsentimental way, but rather, is relentlessly mindful of the details and subtlety in the process of accepting facts beyond our control. Ozu has no resistance to the truth of regret and loss. There is no manic or depressive struggle, but a slow gaze over a beautiful horizon. He takes us to an emotional sanctuary where we can observe without averting our eyes. Ozu does not try to jerk our feelings around or deliberately set out to make us cry. He does not try to dazzle us intellectually or do anything creative or new. Rather he simply shows us an idealized transformation through stages of life where we can arrive at a state of peace through acceptance of "normal" events. There are no bad guys or good guys here, but simple declarations about life in the most monumentally unadorned style possible. A great, great work of art. My all-time favorite.
Review of Tokyo Story
