Tokyo Story (1953)

This my second viewing on the film, and I tried to pay attention to a few things. For one I keep reading through David Bordwell that Ozu doesn't adhere to the 180 rule of shot/reverse shot editing. I tried to follow every single cut in this film and I couldn't spot it. If he does violate continuity editing, he is the most seemless at it.

The film itself is unfortunately one of those movies that is too critically praised to ever be appreciated correctly. I didn't think it was Ozu's best the first time, and I still don't. It did improve slightly, but perhaps I was expecting a much more dramatic second viewing (sort of like my re-watching of Sunrise a few weeks ago).

I honestly feel the film is too long. Granted I don't mind Ozu lingering. Many shots are held for a few extra seconds, and he likes to transition scenes with non-narrative shots of buildings or streets, or empty rooms. What I mean is the story was too long. The ending seemed to be prolonged at the end. This 136 minute film could have been a much more solid 120 minutes without losing any of its emotional power. So I must say this is not a flawless masterpiece. Is it still a great film, of course, and certainly a landmark in Japanese cinema, but in the grand scheme of things I think this film is slightly overrated.