Currently available to stream on BFI Player's Subscription service in a small collection of Yasujirô Ozu films that will be expanded to 25 films from 5 June 2020 as part of JAPAN 2020, a major new BFI season celebrating Japanese cinema.
A constant fixture in critic's polls, Tokyo Story is Yasujirô Ozu's most enduring masterpiece and a beautifully nuanced exploration of filial duty, expectation and regret. From the simple tale of an elderly couple’s visit to their grown-up children in Tokyo, Ozu draws a compelling contrast between the measured dignity of age and the hurried insensitivity of a younger generation.
Also included on the release is Ozu's incisive satire, Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family (1941), which explores similar themes, as, following the death of her husband, Mrs Toda and her youngest daughter receive a frosty reception from the extended family.
