Tokyo Story, dir. Yasujiro Ozu

The Wiz RECOMMENDS Tokyo Story How can a film be both minimalistic but beautiful? Plain but profound? To the point but complex? In Yasujiro Ozu's masterpiece Tokyo Story, Ozu uses his lack of stylistics as a powerful style all it's own: he plays the film as straight and direct as possible and let's the dynamics play out as it may. The result is a film that feels like it should feel simple: a film about an elderly couple visiting their kids who don't have time for them is about as succinct as it can get. But it's depths come from the subtle nuances of the performances by the elderly couple, the questions that the film asks and the direct but compassionate answers it provides. It's both sobering, sad and tragic without it feeling overbearing and over dramatic. It's no wonder why filmmakers and film lovers heap it so much praise: it does so damn much with so little.