Tokyo Story : The Ozu/Noda Screenplay

An elderly couple from the provincial city of Onomichi travel up to Tokyo to visit two of their children, who are now grown and busy with concerns of their own. The simple story of how these loving parents accept the painful arc of their lives is moving and profound, and has led critics to name Yasujiro Ozu's 1953 movie Tokyo Story one of the greatest films of all time. Included here is a complete translation of the Japanese screenplay to Tokyo Story, critical observations by film expert Donald Richie on Ozu's filmmaking, a filmography, and 20 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. Book jacket.

Among the other films of Yasujiro Ozu (1903-63) are Late Spring and An Autumn Afternoon. Kogo Noda (1893-1968) was an influential screenwriter and a frequent Ozu collaborator. Donald Richie is the author of Ozu, The Inland Sea, The Donald Richie Reader, and dozens of other books about Japan and Japanese culture. The late Eric Klestadt, a historian and business executive, lived in Japan from 1937 and was a close friend of Donald Richie.