Tokyo Story: The Ozu/Noda Screenplay

by Yasujiro Ozu, Donald Richie (Translator), Kogo Noda

Yasujiro Ozu’s 1953 Tokyo Story is regularly rated among the top films ever made and will soon be reissued on DVD. Ozu and cowriter Kogo Noda viewed the script as literature; once completed, it was little changed during filming. Here is a translation of the Japanese screenplay to Tokyo Story , with critical observations by Donald Richie on Ozu’s filmmaking, a filmography, and twenty stills. Students of screenwriting will learn much from Ozu’s lean approach, while film lovers will treasure this unique keepsake of a great cinematic achievement. Yasujiro Ozu (1903–1963) was one of Japan’s greatest film directors. Kogo Noda (1893–1968), an influential screenwriter, was a frequent Ozu -collaborator. Donald Richie is the preeminent Western authority on Japanese film.

Genres: Film, Japan, Japanese Literature

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2003

About the author

Yasujirō Ozu (小津 安二郎, Ozu Yasujirō?, 12 December 1903 – 12 December 1963) was a prominent Japanese film director and (sometimes under the name James Maki) script writer. He is known for his distinctive technical style, developed since the silent era. Marriage and family, especially the relationships between the generations, are among the most persistent themes in his body of work. His outstanding works include Early Summer (1951), Tokyo Story (1953), and Floating Weeds (1959).

Ozu's reputation outside his native Japan has grown steadily since his death. Influential monographs by Donald Richie, Paul Schrader and David Bordwell have ensured a wider appreciation of Ozu's style, aesthetics and themes in the West.

Ozu was born in the Fukagawa district of Tokyo. At the age of ten, he and his siblings were sent by his father to live in his father's home town of Matsuzaka, Mie Prefecture, where he spent most of his youth. He was educated at a boarding school but spent much of his time in the local cinema rather than a classroom.

He worked briefly as a teacher before returning to Tokyo in 1923 to join the Shochiku Film Company.

Ozu was well known for his drinking. In fact, he and his fellow screenwriter Kogo Noda used to measure the progression of their scripts by how many bottles of sake they had drunk. Occasionally visitors to his grave pay their respects by leaving cans and bottles of alcoholic drink. Ozu remained single and childless all of his life and stayed alone with his mother who died less than two years before his own death.

Ozu died in 1963 of cancer on his 60th birthday. His grave at Engaku-ji in Kamakura bears no name—just the character mu ("nothingness")

Reviews

[Saba · Rating 4 out of 5]

کیوکو: زندگی یأس‌آور نیست؟
نوریکو: چرا، هست.
کیوکو: (با لبخند) مواظب خودت باش.
نوریکو: ممنون. خداحافظ.

[Mohammad Hanifeh · Rating 5 out of 5]

در تمام فهرست‌های معتبر، فیلم داستان توکیو در رده‌های بالای بهترین آثار تاریخ سینما دیده می‌شود. در کنار فرمِ ساده اما در عین حال بی‌نقصش، فکر می‌کنم داستانِ فیلم دلیل اصلی این توجه است. داستانی که سرراست و بدون حرف اضافی، ماجرایی را به تصویر می‌کشد که عینِ زندگی است. درست مثل زندگی، گاهی خنده‌آور است، گاهی خسته‌کننده و البته اغلب غم‌انگیز.

اوزو در غالب پدر و مادرِ فیلم، نگرانی خود از فروپاشی خانواده و دوری اعضای آن از هم را نشان می‌دهد. نشان می‌دهد که چقدر این مسئله برایش دردناک است اما به آن لبخند می‌زند و سعی می‌کند توجیهی برایش پیدا کند. مثل شخصیت‌های فیلم که سعی می‌کنند به هر آن‌چه ناگزیر است، لبخند بزنند و با روی خوش از آن‌ها گذر کنند؛ از تنهایی، بی‌خانمانی و در نهایت از مرگ.

کاراکترهای اوزو، از سرخوشی و جهلِ پولیاناوار نیست که از همه‌چیز این‌گونه با روی گشاده استقبال می‌کنند. می‌دانند که مرگ هست، دوری هست، تنهایی و حسرت هست؛ ولی تلخ نمی‌شوند. زندگی را همان‌طور که هست، پذیرفته‌اند. مثل دیالوگ یکی از آخرین سکانس‌های فیلم که کیوکو می‌پرسد: «زندگی یأس‌آور نیست؟» و نوریکو با لبخند پاسخ می‌دهد: «چرا، هست.» و بعد، هر دو با تبسم از هم خداحافظی می‌کنند.

[Anthony McGill · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the Criterion Collection notes: "A profoundly stirring evocation of elemental humanity, 'Tokyo Story' is the crowning achievement of the unparalleled Yasujiro Ozu. The film, which follows an aging couple's journey to visit their grown children in bustling post-war Tokyo, surveys the rich and complex world of family life with the director's customary delicacy and incisive perspective on social mores ...... plumbs and deepens the director's recurring theme of generational conflict, creating what is without question one of cinema's mightiest masterpieces."

This beautifully designed paperback contains the complete screenplay by Ozu and Kogo Noda with twenty selected stills from the film with a twelve page introduction by Ozu expert and author of dozens of books about Japan and Japanese culture, Donald Richie, who also translated the script with Eric Klestadt. Also contains an invaluable comprehensive filmography of Ozu's work.

Originally published to commemorate the director's centenary, this stylish book is a wonderful companion study to one of the greatest of all movies.*
* 'Tokyo Story' ('Tokyo Monogatari') voted #3 in the Sight & Sound/British Film Institute's poll of 'The Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time.'

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

“A simple story emphasizes what has happened, whereas a plot emphasizes why something has happened.” -p.13

[Tosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anything that Donald Richie has his name on it I will get it and read it. But also when it deals with one of the great films of the 20th Century, "Tokyo Story" it's a must. The screenplay on a page by no means replace the actual images on the screen (or on dvd) but it's nice to have it near the Criterion edition of this remarkable piece of work.

Richie wrote the translation and also the notes. If anyone here haven't seen the film, please do so. Ozu is one of the greats.

[Ramesh Prabhu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now I'm looking forward to watching the movie. Thank you, Arjun Chauhan!