Tokyo Story vs. Classical Hollywood Cinema

Yasujiro Ozu's film Tokyo Story is most definitely not at as exciting as the newest action adventure film, but its slow, almost zen-like narrative made an impression on audiences around the world.

Ozu's film chronicles the journey of an elderly couple visiting their grown children in Tokyo, only to find out that their children are too busy to care for them. The way this story is told is quite different from the way a typical American movie would tell it. Ozu tells the story step by step, in a very slow manner. One could argue that there is hardly any action in this film at all. Unlike the classic Hollywood film, we are not introduced to a main character from the beginning who has a problem that he or she needs to solve by the end of the film. Nor do we specifically see the action that happens in the film, but find out about it through dialogue between other characters. Some of the most important plot elements, such as the mother's death aren't even shown to the audience, we just find out about them through the other characters reactions.

Ozu also differs from American films at the time when he uses very long takes, and shows us a scene where not much is happening. A shot of a woman walking down a street lasts much longer than it would in American movies. American movies show a few seconds, until we understand what is happening, and then moves on to the next action. Ozu takes a different approach and lingers on the the shot for much longer than anticipated. The way he transitions from scene to scene is also different as he uses shots and scenes that don't specifically apply to a situation in the film. Many transitional shots are of spaces and places that we as the audience have never seen in the film, and don't really have a connection with what we have seen.

Probably one of the biggest differences between Ozu's style and the classical Hollywood style is the way he breaks the 180 degree rule. The 180 degree rule basically states that when filming, two characters should be on a 180 degree line that establishes the shot, and puts them on one side of the frame. From then on, the camera must observe this rule by not crossing the line, and therefore changing the relationship of the characters in the shot. Ozu often breaks this rule, which tends to confuse the audience.

In Tokyo Story, Ozu breaks the boundaries of conventional Hollywood cinema, breaking the 180 degree rule, creating new shots, and showing a new approach to the narrative. The result is a very interesting, calm film which opened many eyes to a new way of filmmaking.