MovieChat Forums > Tôkyô monogatari (1972) Discussion > Really rotten, spoiled grandsons!

Really rotten, spoiled grandsons!


I recently saw another Japanese film on TCM from the late 50s/early 60s, can't recall the title, but it, too had featured two young boys, an grouchy older brother and impressionable younger one, who gave their parents The Silent Treatment b/c they couldn't have something/go somewhere. What they needed was a good spanking, as did the spoiled brats in this film! The parents just laughed off their children's complete disrespectfulness and selfishness. Is that the way Japanese children were raised back then? Is it like this now, with the children being spoiled and undisciplined, and running the show? I felt terrible for the grandparents who got not one speck of affection from these rude brats in "Tokyo Story"; even when the grandmother took the little one out for a walk, he completely ignored her. The grandparents stayed around long enough for the kids to have thawed towards them, but I'll bet they didn't.

It was a strange, too, to hear the grown children saying how "old" the folks were, with Mother being around 68! Things have changed, thank heavens. It was just the one daughter whom I felt was self-centered and impatient with her parents; the others seemed a bit better, but it was the daughter-in-law who made the biggest impression and was the most devastated at the death of the older woman. I loved her! In my opinion, this was a wonderful film, loved the actors and scenery, both inside and out. It sure made my back and legs hurt, watching the cast continually going from a kneeling position to standing and back again, the rooms, too, looked so closed-in; I felt claustrophobic! Loved it...

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The grandchildren were well on their way to becoming their fathers. It makes me wonder how the grandparent main characters managed to raise such spoiled children when they were so kind.

Thanks for pointing out the scene where the grandchild completely ignored his grandmother which is a point that I completely missed. I guess that happens with a lot of people who are out standing in their field. ;-)

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It makes me wonder how the grandparent main characters managed to raise such spoiled children when they were so kind.
People change with age and the young seem imperious the older one gets.
the scene where the grandchild completely ignored his grandmother which is a point that I completely missed
I thought this was a wonderful moment. The boy's grandmother is wishing him the best whilst lamenting she may not see him grow up. He's oblivious because he's young. This is how it is and rightly so. The young should not bear death yet.
A bird sings and the mountain's silence deepens.

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Noriko, the daughter-in-law was grieving her deceased husband as much as her mother-in-law. I think it's important to say this to understand how different her reaction was in contrast to the others.

Regarding your other comments about the characters: I find them mean. I'm not sure what you understand about death and burying one's parents but there is no 'right' response and people go back and forth in different ways with their grief. 68 was pretty old in 1953. Young children can be petulant and it doesn't make them brats. The film makes the point via the elder grandchild that their father devotes more time to his patients than his sons. No wonder the eldest is petulant. The grandparents forgave them so you, if you get the film, should do so too.

A bird sings and the mountain's silence deepens.

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Their behavior caused a lot of sympathy in me for the grandparents. To be honest I wanted to slap them.

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I recently saw another Japanese film on TCM from the late 50s/early 60s, can't recall the title, but it, too had featured two young boys, an grouchy older brother and impressionable younger one, who gave their parents The Silent Treatment b/c they couldn't have something/go somewhere.


Even though it was a kind of vague description, I think I saw this film as well but I can't remember the name of it either. When I saw Tokyo Story, it felt very familiar to this other film.

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I recently saw another Japanese film on TCM from the late 50s/early 60s, can't recall the title, but it, too had featured two young boys, an grouchy older brother and impressionable younger one, who gave their parents The Silent Treatment b/c they couldn't have something/go somewhere.


Even though it was a kind of vague description, I think I saw this film as well but I can't remember the name of it either. When I saw Tokyo Story, it felt very familiar to this other film.



I'm pretty sure you guys are talking about the film "Good Morning/Ohayō" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053134/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) which was also directed by Ozu Yasujirō.


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