Tokyo Twilight (1957) User Reviews

A single male parent tries to help his two daughters, both of whom have emotional problems, with partial success.

[rschmeec · 9/10 · 6 February 2005]

This is a relatively "dark" film, symbolized by the cold weather outside throughout the film, and the various ways (wearing masks, sitting close to the fire, snuggling up) in which the characters cope with the cold.

I cannot agree with the previous review's strictures about the leading male character, that he is paternalistic, passive, and judgmental. What came across to me was that he cared deeply for his children and accepted his responsibility as a parent to address their problems. He has been abandoned by his wife and the mother of his children, he says he has done the best he could to raise them, at the same time acknowledging the need for children to have two parents. The theme of parental responsibility seems a common element in this with the last Ozu film I saw: THERE WAS A FATHER.

Although this is a rather "dark" film, the ending, like that of many of Shakespeare's plays, ends in some form of reconciliation: the one daughter wanting to start a new life, the other deciding to return, with her child, to her husband, from whom she has been separated.

This starts off very, very slow...stick with it.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 3 October 2009]

I've seen quite a few films by Yasujiro Ozu and this might just be the slowest movie of the bunch. As a result, you might get tempted to turn it off after a while--especially because the plot really isn't even hinted at until a lot of seemingly irrelevant stuff has happened. However, if you are able to keep watching, you'll be amply rewarded. Just understand first that much of what happens is very depressing--this is NOT a "feel good" Ozu film!! The story is about a man (Chishu Ryu--a guy who was in almost every Ozu film ever made) and his grown daughters. I daughter has recently taken her child and left her husband. Exactly why she dislikes him really is never discussed. The other daughter is younger and wilder. She has a secret and for much of the film you have no idea why she is trying to borrow money and comes home so late.

Much later in the film, you discover that there is a lot more to this family--much, much more. Their mother apparently abandoned the family many years ago and is now trying to re-establish contact with her kids. A brother was apparently killed years earlier. And, the youngest is pregnant and contemplating having an abortion! From the introduction of all these plot points, things get even worse--leading to a very, very sad conclusion to the film.

While this is anything but fun to watch, the movie is constructed so well and the characters are quite interesting. Like a typical Ozu film, they are normal folks--neither rich nor poor--just common people. But here, at least, their problems are far from common. Also, like any Ozu film, you have the low mounted camera that does not move with the action, but switches camera shots instead (as needed). This makes for a somewhat disconnected film in some ways--like you are a fly on the wall because there are no zoom shots either. You just look across the room at the players.

Overall, well worth watching but I advise making a pot of tea or coffee to drink along with the film--it will help you stay awake. This is not a criticism--just a fact about the very deliberate pacing of the film.

A perfect balance.

[brogmiller · 9/10 · 30 November 2019]

This is the last film that Yasujiro Ozu made in black and white and it is an outstanding achievement in every way. He has used his tried and trusted team of composer Saito, art director Hamada and one of the two cameramen that he regularly used, Yuharu Atsuta, whose 'framing' is superb. The performances are simply splendid. Seksuko Hara never ceases to amaze. Isuzu Yamada, very touching as the mother, gave a stupendous portrayal the same year as Lady Macbeth in Kurosawa's 'Throne of Blood'. The performance that dominates however is that of Ineko Arima as the young woman overcome by despair and feelings of worthlessness. This film is intensely moving and one in which Ozu has achieved the perfect balance of simplicity and depth, restraint and emotion. Must be seen.

Another masterpiece by Ozu

[princebansal1982 · 10/10 · 30 May 2011]

This is my fifth Ozu film. And as I watch more of his movies my respect for his genius keeps on growing. He is more avant-garde than any other film maker I have seen.

While others use wars as backdrop to create a more touching drama, wars just find a small reference in his films even if his characters have lived through them. While other use death as a dramatic pivot for the whole movie, Ozu skips it altogether. People do die in his films, but they do it off screen. There are no famous last dialogs about life or last moments.

But despite these things or maybe because of these things, his movies are more poignant and touching than any other I have seen. I don't really cry while watching his movies. Instead they leave me in a strange tranquil state of mind, wistfully smiling.

Another thing to note is that while his movies reveal more about Japanese culture than any other movies I have seen, at the same time they are very universal.

If you haven't seen any movie by Yasujiro Ozu, I recommend starting with Tokyo Story or Good Morning. This one seems much longer as it takes some time to start and is devoid of humor. This is not meant as a criticism, Tokyo Twilight is still an amazing experience. But I think an average viewer should start with something else.

Ozu's darkest hour, a masterpiece

[alsolikelife · 13 December 2003]

A deeply, uncharacteristically dark film, even among other "dark" Ozu films (i.e. A HEN IN THE WIND, EARLY SPRING) that may require a theatrical setting for the viewer to be fully absorbed in the strange, dark textures of the world Ozu presents. I myself was pretty alienated for the first 1/2 hour or so until the wintry chill of the mise-en-scene (brilliantly suggested in the slightly hunched-over postures of the characters) found its way into me instead of keeping me at arm's length. And from there this story builds in unwavering intensity as it follows a family on a slow slide into dissolution: a passive, judgmental patriarch (played by Chisyu Ryu, subverting his gently accepting persona in a way that is shocking), his elder daughter, a divorcee with a single child (Setsuko Hara, playing brilliantly against type -- who'd have thought the sweetest lady in '50s Japan had such an evil scowl?), and his younger daughter (Ineko Arima, a revelation), secretly pregnant and searching for her boyfriend, get a major shakeup when their absent mother, who the father had told them was long dead, re-enters their lives. Ozu's vision of post-war Japan and how the sins of one generation get passed on to the next, illustrated brilliantly by a series of parallels drawn sensitively between characters, manages to be both compassionate and scathing -- even a seemingly cop-out happy denouement is embedded with a poison pill. A masterpiece, without question, one that throws all of Ozu's depictions of modern society in a beautifully devastating new light.

secrets and lies, Ozu style

[Quinoa1984 · 10/10 · 5 December 2011]

A fairly dark story for Ozu, but you know what? I think that shows Ozu can do just a little different than what everyone expects of him. The ingredients of this stuff isn't just melodrama, it's soap opera - disappointed father, absentee mother, an abortion, and a closed off young woman who doesn't know what to do with herself, certainly not around the deadbeat man in her life. But it's how Ozu goes about - I felt deeply for this family since it builds from a place that just feels real - and awkward in its reality. I think in many of Ozu's films the kind of nice-ness people have to one another (I don't know if this is just in Japan or just elsewhere) is a cover for what they really think and feel.

A lot of what is in the early parts of Ozu films are mundane, just pleasantries, making tea, talking some minor gossip or 'how was your day' stuff. But then it goes into some areas that are much darker, or just can't be seen by the surface of the rituals of Japanese familial ties and relations. And in this film Ozu really made it a point that this family is torn by secrets and lies, and it's so under the surface that it becomes palpable. And there's a noirish quality here that works interestingly, as the sister Akika stews away with her secret in a bar, and doesn't even know the bigger secret about her birthright (and a tinny song Ozu plays often in the film, even in the most tragic scenes, adds a whole other level of the familiar but sadness).

I was touched by Tokyo Twilight, and it wasn't a sudden effect - it came over me gradually, like an old friend coming by and then finding out through a long and staggering conversation what hard times there have been. It's tragedy in full dimensions

Dark twilight

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 24 April 2020]

Yasujiro Ozu in my mind has got to one of the greatest directors in Japanese cinema, second only to Akira Kurosawa (also hold Hayou Miyazaki in high regard). As well as film in general, a feeling immediately felt after being blown away by 'An Autumn Afternoon' and especially 'Tokyo Story' years ago and this deep appreciation developed more when watching more of his work relatively recently. Again his work takes patience getting into it but if stuck with it's well worth it and more.

'Tokyo Twilight' is somewhat atypical Ozu. One can tell without any problem or hesitation that it's Ozu's style, which was a distinctive one and obvious in all his films regardless of the subject. The story though is a more intense one compared to what is usually seen with him and the approach is darker and bleaker than the usual gentle touch. That doesn't in any way stop it from being a wonderful film in every way, and is actually an interest point and what makes it stand out among his filmography.

It looks great, purposefully static yet never cheap, for starters, being notable for being the last Ozu made in black and white. With 1958's 'Equinox Flower' and all the films between that and 1962's 'An Autumn Afternoon', so the director's last six films, being made in colour. It is beautifully shot with distinctive techniques that Ozu used frequently, adds so much to the film's bleakness and an intimacy that allowed one to further engage with the drama. Ozu's direction has a little more tension than usual but also has the sensitivity, present in all his other major films, that few other directors before and since matched.

Kojun Saito, an Ozu regular, provides a haunting yet typically understated and sometimes nostalgic score, used intimately. The script is thoughtful and doesn't lay either the intense bleakness or poignancy on too thick. The story is deliberate but never dull, it is one of Ozu's darkest and bleakest films, with a never overplayed intensity between characters, while also very human and affecting.

Characterisation is not one-dimensional and very human, their strengths and flaws relatable and not taken to extremes in either way. Their situations also come over realistically and powerfully. The acting is great with a particularly riveting performance from Ineko Arima.

Overall, wonderful and one of Ozu's best. It is a shame though that it is not as better known as it deserves to be. 10/10

tokyo twilight

[mossgrymk · 10/10 · 10 September 2021]

Generally considered to be Ozu's bleakest film which is, perhaps, why it's often placed behind "Tokyo Story" and "Late Spring", funnier and gentler if not less powerful works , in this director's canon. I would agree with this assessment and ranking although it's a bit like saying "The Possessed" is Doestoevsky's third best novel. I mean it's still a shattering experience that stays with you long after you've finished it and demands to be re-visited. I would especially like again to view the character of the loving but strangely passive mom who walks out on her marriage and kids but wants and expects immediate forgiveness from her children. Ozu and his co scenarist Kogo Noda's treatment of her is amazingly good, bringing out both the monstrousness and humanity of this person so that you are both appalled by and sympathetic toward her. And the downward spiral of Akiko, which in the hands of a lesser director would descend the tear jerking path, is looked at with compassion tempered with a rather cold eyed realism in the scenes at the police station and the abortion clinic. And Chishu Ryu and Setsuko Hara, re-enacting the father/daughter relationship of "Late Spring" but with the interesting difference that Hara's character is married but separated, meet on a more equal plane of maturity, in my opinion, than in the earlier work that makes their scenes together fuller and less sentimental. So while your tear ducts are drier your mind is more engaged. And, come to think of it, maybe that's another reason why this film has been unjustly neglected, at least in the West. Give it an A.

Minor Ozu, still worth seeing

[Andy-296 · 6/10 · 9 August 2008]

Tokyo in the mid 1950s. In this stereotypical women's picture, a single, middle aged man (Chishu Ryu, an Ozu regular), tries against all odds to raise his two grown troubled daughters. One (the great Setsuko Hara, another Ozu regular) is a single mother who has left her husband and return to his father's home. The younger daughter is even more troubled, is surrounded by bad companies, and has become pregnant by her no good boyfriend. Soon, the two sisters find in a mahjong joint their long lost mother, who seems curiously unmoved at learning that her son has died years ago in a climbing accident. The sloppy plot hurts the movie a lot (only in bad melodramas, one of the characters commits suicide by throwing herself under a train, but doesn't die until she tells her story). To its credit, though, this film tackles the issue of abortion decades before western films did, but this is still minor Ozu, somewhat moving, but done in by its unnecessary melodrama and its barely believable plot points. There are many movies Ozu made during this era - from Tokyo Story, Floating Weeds, Early Summer, Late Spring, Good Morning, End of Summer, etc., that are better than this. Still, worth seeing if you are not expecting a masterpiece.

Sad portrait of faltering relationships

[jamesrupert2014 · 8/10 · 21 November 2023]

Two sisters, Takako (Setsuko Hara), who is estranged from her husband, and Akiko (Ineko Arima), who is starting to 'run wild', live with their father Shukichi (Chishu Ryu), whose wife deserted him for another man when the girls were young children. The film is a typical Yasujiro Ozu family drama - melancholy, compelling and beautifully filmed. Similar to many of the auteur's other films, the story focuses on the breakdown of a Japanese family but rather than being due to transgenerational changes in attitudes and culture, the breakdown in 'Tokyo Twilight' is ignited by poor judgement and bad personal decisions. I found the resolution of Akiko's story a bit had to reconcile with the images on screen (but this may be due to Ozu's tendency to jump forward and leave it to the viewers to imagine the unseen events). Recommended (even if I remain unsure as to why I enjoy Ozu's films so much).

An Interesting, Low-Keyed, But Prolonged Tragic Photo Play.

[net_orders · 6/10 · 6 May 2016]

Viewed on DVD. Restoration = ten (10) stars. Unlike most films from Yasujiro Ozu, here is a movie you have NOT mostly seen before you actually see it! This is mainly due to a plot that is uniquely divergent for this director (who is also a co-author of the script). It is a refreshing relief from the usual over-the-top depiction of tragedy in many/most dramatic films of the era. No over-blown emoting (except for the youngest lead actress), extensive distraught hand wringing or scenery eating. On the other hand, the serene depiction of an extended family confronting life-changing misfortunes is unrealistically presented as essentially a "business- as-usual," every-day occurrence. The lectern is disguised, but the viewer can not escape the nuanced feeling of being lectured by the Director on how financially well-off, contemporary Japanese families are supposed to confront and react to tragic events. This is a movie that projects the director's opinion of how Japanese society should be, not how Japanese society necessarily was in the mid 1950's. There is not much in the film that is new at the execution level. As usual, there are no surprises, since the script telegraphs all forthcoming events. Most of the director's filming techniques, trade-mark shots, and artifacts are the same as used ad nausea in other films (except for the absence of clothes lines and the frequent substitution of "side acting" for "back acting" this time). As usual, the film is much too long and dragged out. Pretty much the same (outstanding) leading actors/actresses are in residence. Studio sets have been recycled as usual: this family seems to live in the same house as all the other families seen in all the director's other films (complete with bell-ringing outside sliding doors). All establishing shots are at worm's eye level which usually cuts the actors off at mid torso. The schizophrenic film score is badly in need of a music editor to match music and themes with actors and scenes. Music ranges from rip-offs of contemporary Italian movies (especially during the opening credits) to very light-weight Wagner. To add to this sorry state, happy music often accomplices the depiction of somber screen moments. Cinematography (black and white) consists of static shots using graying filters for real exteriors and an antique, narrow-screen format. Subtitles are just right: they neither lag nor lead the clearly enunciated dialog delivery. So in the final analysis what do we have? A photo play that is definitely worth watching and watching in its entirety, although surviving repeat viewings may prove beyond challenging. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.

If we needed more proof that Ozu was not of this world, here it is

[Gunnar_Ingibjargarson · 10/10 · 12 June 2021]

A two grown up sisters living with their single father, find out they have a mother who abounded them years ago. Feelings of hostile and anger, goes around them both. Another masterful filmmaking by Ozu, through family and loneliness, abandonment and anger, fulfill this piece. Setsuko Hara and Chishû Ryû, stunning as usual. A little different Ozu film in many ways, here we have a lot of darkness and hardness around family and family members. A masterpiece.

Yasujiro Ozu's dark and hard take on unavoidable facts of parenthood, childhood and married life.

[SAMTHEBESTEST · 7/10 · 11 February 2021]

Tokyo boshoku / Tokyo Twilight (1957) : Brief Review -

Yasujiro Ozu's dark and hard take on unavoidable facts of parenthood, childhood and married life. Tokyo Twilight is known as Ozu's one of the Darkest film ever but frankly speaking it isn't that dark to be called so. It is just the longer runtime of 140 minutes, a bit longer than his previous flicks that makes it little streched and slow film. You'll see the same techniques, same storytelling and similar filmmaking from Ozu while he explores more detailing of characters this time. Two sisters find out the existence of their long-lost mother, but the younger cannot take the truth of being abandoned as a child. We see Four main characters here, one is father, one is mother and two sisters-one married and one single. Two of them are positive and good (The father and his elder daughter) whereas two are pretty spoiled and with wrongdoings (the mother and younger daughter). Naturally, those two positive characters make sense and the rest two are highly insensible and wrong who feels like the minuses in the writing. Cinematography is yet again top class just like all Ozu films. I love this thing about his films that he gives pauses and slow attributes to daily life activities. The scenes which don't contribute much to take the screenplay forward are always used by him to give us that real life feel. Acting by Ineko Arima, Setsuko Hara, Chishu Ryu and Isuzu Yamada is perfect. The background score is used very well and strictly according to the situations. Hear that clock tickling in background in the last conversation between Ryu and Hara, just Amazing. Overall, Ozu makes another superb film on family issues but this one is very much about accepting those unavoidable duties of parenthood, childhood and married life. And yes some are positive and some are negative but what can we do? That's Life.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest

Dated morality tale, and Ozu's direction lacks artistry

[gbill-74877 · 5/10 · 21 August 2017]

This film is methodical in developing its tale of troubles for a Japanese family, which had a wife run away from her husband and two daughters when they were young, the older daughter (now grown) running away from her own unhappy marriage, and the younger daughter running with the wrong crowd and getting pregnant. Despite all these dark elements, the film is very prim and proper in its delivery, and rather quiet.

The older daughter is played reasonably well by Setsuko Hara, but she's upstaged by Ineko Arima, who plays her rebellious younger sister. The scenes with Arima frustrated by her lover's games, dealing with an unwanted pregnancy, and wondering if she was the product of an affair of her mother's are among the best in the film. It was interesting to contrast the handling of abortion by director Yasujiro Ozu with that by 'new wave' director Nagisa Oshima (Cruel Story of Youth, 1960), and the American Robert Mulligan (Love with the Proper Stranger, 1963).

The issues I had with the film all relate back to Ozu's direction. Early on in the film you'll notice actors often staring directly into the camera as they deliver their dialogue, particularly the father (Chishu Ryu). These simple shots seem dated, even for the time period. As the film progresses, it's too ponderous in many of its shots and scenes, such that it ends up being much too long at 140 minutes. Lastly, I disliked the fact that it was ultimately a morality tale. With a heavy hand, Ozu essentially tells us it's important to keep a marriage together even if it's unhappy, because one parent will not be enough. The message is dated, and his delivery lacks artistry.

Variations On A Theme

[boblipton · 8/10 · 19 March 2020]

Ozu's stock company runs through variations on their unhappy yet loyal relationships to each other: Chishû Ryû as the father who tried his best and failed; Setsuko Hara as the seemingly obedient daughter, and so forth; the middle class home; the little bar around the office. It's all there and all as familiar as the nail's level view -- a bent-down nail, because the nail that sticks up gets hammered down.

We're told that Ozu is very Japanese and I wouldn't understand, but I find his world very familiar, even if everyone speaks Japanese. Growing up, I didn't understand Yiddish -- I still don't -- but my parents and uncles and aunts did and held conversation in it when they didn't want us to understand. Sometimes the discussions would escalate to shouting, and when I would ask what was going on, I would be told "You wouldn't understand." I understood they were unhappy, and for a child, there's nothing more frightening.

So that's what Ozu seems like to me: the same people, the same problems, the same language so I wouldn't understand -- but with subtitles. With the same cast, just like my family. As Wayne said to Howard Hawks, this time, can I play the drunk?

Think twice before making a big decision in life!

[sagor-9364 · 8/10 · 14 March 2024]

A film still relatable even today, and should be watched even more by the youth of the modern era! Because nowadays such a movie will never be made. This era is about free will and choice and that anything is ok as long as it's consensual, and I'm actually ok with it. But having a baby and starting a family is a different aspect of life. "Love" is not enough to sustain a marriage. A marriage and a family is bound by an invisible pact of responsibility. The moment a couple brings a babv into the world, they are forever bound to be responsible for the well being of that baby. This film depicts just how much impact a mother's desertion of her daughters could have on the girls! The mother took a selfish step and abandoned her family and that ultimately came to haunt her back and also destroyed her daughter's life! A sad story and yet so much to learn from it!! Hope people watch the film and try to implement the learning into their lives!!

"East of Eden" for daughters

[frankde-jong · 7/10 · 21 May 2022]

The past few month I saw three late movies of Yasujiro Ozu who were recently restorated. Two things caught my eye.

In the first place there were heavy, controversial subjects. It was a clearly something more than two generations that have become alienated from each other, as was the case in "Tokyo story" (1953, Yasujiro Ozu).

Secondly Ozu no longer is merely the chronicler of Japan after te Second World War, he also criticizes it. See for example "Early spring" (1956, Yasujir Ozu) in which film he critizes the Japanese work ethos where loyalty to the company goes above loyalty to ones family.

"Tokyo Twilight" is about a father (regular Ozu actor Chisyu Ryu) and his two daughters. The mother has disappeared with another man long ago. The reappearance of the mother disturbs the fragile equilibrium, with all its consequences,

In another review "Tokyo Twilight" was called the "East of Eden" (1955, Elia Kazan) for daughters. This makes some sense. The youngest daughter (the rebel) fights, without fully realizing it, for the approval of her father.

The (slight) weakness of "Tokyo Twilight" is that there are too much heavy subjects for one film (failed marriages (two times), addiction to gambling, abortion).

By means of the well known Ozu style, especially by adding scenes in which little happens but which give the viewer the opportunity to reflect on the preceding actions, the director skilfully prevents the film from turning into a melodrama.

It's just outdated Ozu has made better

[jordondave-28085 · 7/10 · 11 April 2023]

(1957) Tokyo Twilight/ Tôkyô boshoku (In Japanese with English subtitles) DRAMA

Co-written and directed by Yasujirô Ozu that is somewhat outdated, but still consist of themes similar to "Floating Weeds" centering on a single father, movie veteran actor Chishu Ryu as Shukichi Sugiyama and his relationship with his 2 daughters of Akiko (Ineko Arima) and Takako (Setsuko Hara). Akiko is a college student while her older sister Takako has just left her husband with her 2 year old daughter who happens to be a writer to move in with her dad. Viewers would already know what Akiko's problem before it reveals it to the audience which is reminiscent of "Peyton Place".