Japanese Film Screening - Tokyo Story

Free Japanese Film Screening is being held at Ellen Melville Centre on the last Friday of each month from 6:00pm and are preceded by a documentary about Japanese culture from 5:45 pm.

- All films have English subtitles.
- Booking is not necessary. First come, first served basis.
- Films, dates and times are subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances.

We hope that you will enjoy the films and gain a deeper insight into various aspects of Japanese culture.

August film: "Tokyo Story"
(1953, 136min. Rating: PG, Director:Yasujiro Ozu)

Listed at Number One in Halliwell's Top 1000 countdown of the world's best cinema, and voted among the five best films ever made in Sight and Sound magazine's ten yearly poll of critics worldwide, Tokyo Story is prehaps the most powerful reflection on the human condition ever committed to celluloid.

An elderly couple travel from rural Japan to Tokyo on a once-in-a-lifetime visit to their adult children. On arrival, they discover the burgeoning capital and the priorities of their family are distinctly different to their expectations. Lovingly restored and remastered from a 4K transfer of original 35mm elements, Yasujiro Ozu’s post-war masterwork is a beautiful and poetic exploration of age, family and the fragility of human relationships.

© 1953 Shochiku Co., Ltd

Presented by the Consulate-General of Japan, The Japan Foundation, Ellen Melville Centre, Auckland Council.