Tokyo Twilight (Hong Kong Version) VCD
Hara Setsuko (Actor)
| Arima Ineko (Actor)
| Yamada Isuzu (Actor)
| Ozu Yasujiro (Director)
Our Price:
US$7.99
Related promotions:
Important information about purchasing this product:
- This product is accepted for return under certain conditions. For more details, please refer to our return policy.
- This video product does not have English audio or subtitles.
- This product will not be shipped to China, Japan.
Customer Review of "Tokyo Twilight (Hong Kong Version)"
Average Customer Rating for All Editions of this Product:
(2)
Page:
1
Kevin Kennedy
See all my reviews
January 30, 2008
This customer review refers to Tokyo Twilight (Hong Kong Version)
See all my reviews
January 30, 2008
This customer review refers to Tokyo Twilight (Hong Kong Version)
An overlooked Ozu classic
|
"Tokyo Twilight" is a brilliantly written, beautifully filmed masterpiece of a family falling apart. The film is elegantly constructed, with the plot points flowing inevitably from what we learn about the characters as the film progresses. The film introduces us to a single father and his two daughters. The father is an ineffectual middle manager at a bank, the kind of man who ducks out to play pinball at the local pachinko parlor when work gets slow. He is distant in his dealings with other people and unable to assess others properly. He chose his own wife poorly (she left him for another man during the war) and chose the husband for his eldest daughter equally poorly (she has left him due to his drinking and abuse). The youngest daughter lies to her family about her life; she has become pregnant by a young man who wants nothing to do with her. The tale of this train wreck of a family is presented in hyper-realistic fashion. While it is an unhappy story, it is thoroughly engrossing. We care about these people; we recognize them as people we all know. The family's saving grace is the love the eldest daughter has for her child, an adorable baby girl. It provides the one glimmer of hope for the family's future. "Tokyo Twilight" is a moving and powerful film and I give it my highest recommendation. |
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
(Report This)
Martin Perea
See all my reviews
August 25, 2005
This customer review refers to Tokyo Twilight (Hong Kong Version)
See all my reviews
August 25, 2005
This customer review refers to Tokyo Twilight (Hong Kong Version)
1 people found the following helpful
A masterpiece lost in a sea of greatness...
A masterpiece lost in a sea of greatness...
| I wish I could say this is my favorite Ozu film, but I think "Early Summer", "Tokyo Story", and the silent "Story of Floating Weeds" reign supreme, and most people would agree. This film is not even essential to understanding Ozu's ouvre. It is, rather, part of a ripple that occurred in the mid-50's following his two year break from directing after the success of "Tokyo Story". In 1955 Ozu returned with "Early Spring", a story that brings to the surface the darker undertones and commentary about modernizing Japan that remained subtextual in "Flavour of Green Tea Over Rice" and "Tokyo Story". "Tokyo Twilight" is not even the harshest Ozu film -- that would be the misogynist and over-the-top "Hen in the Wind". Ozu is not concerned with societal changes in this film, he very subtly critiques the Japanese family and its traditions. Chishu Ryu plays a father whose passive-aggressive martyrdom (his wife left him and their daughters during the war) masks an extremely cold and distant nature. Setsuko Hara, as the eldest daughter, uncharacteristically plays an unforgiving and domineering daughter/sister. This was Ozu's last black-and-white film and contains perhaps the most gorgeous cinematography in his body of work. Much of it takes place at night or in the cold. You can feel the literal and emotional coldness in the scenes at the family's home. The DVD captures the photography beautifully. There are many plot elements that make me wonder if Ozu wrote the script after seeing Elia Kazan's "East of Eden", starring James Dean. |
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
(Report This)
Page:
1
United States - English