Tokyo-Ga (1985) - full transcript
Wim Wenders travels to Japan in search of the Tokyo seen in the films of Yasujirô Ozu. Ozu's own Tokyo Story (1953) is a helpful (but not mandatory) pre-requisite to seeing Tokyo-Ga (1985).
A SHOCHIKU PRODUCTION
FROM THE 1953 CULTURAL FESTIVAL
TOKYO STORY
Screenplay by
KOGO NODA and YASUJIRO OZU
Executive Producer
TAKESHI YAMAMOTO
Photography by
YUHARU ATSUTA
Art Direction by
TATSUO HAMADA
With
SETSUKO HARA
CHISHU RYU
CHIEKO HIGASHIYAMA
HARUKO SUGIMURA
SO YAMAMURA
KUNIKO MIYAKE
KYOKO KAGAWA
EIJIRO TONO
NOBUO NAKAMURA
SHIRO OSAKA
HISAO TOAKE
TERUKO NAGAOKA
Directed by
YASUJIRO OZU
Good morning.
Leaving today?
Yes, this afternoon.
Really?
This is our chance
to see all our children.
That's nice.
They must be looking forward
to your arrival.
Well, I hope so.
Keep an eye on our house
while we're gone, will you?
Of course.
Your children have all
turned out so well.
You're very lucky.
I suppose so.
And what beautiful weather.
Yes, indeed.
You'll have a lovely trip.
I still can't find it.
No? It must be there.
Oh, here it is.
You found it?
Yes, I did.
The simple fact is
there are few images left.
From up here you can see
everything's extremely built up.
There are few images
to be found.
One has to dig for them
like an archeologist.
One has to search
through this ravaged landscape
to find anything at all.
It's often tied up with risk, of course,
which I would never shun,
but I see so few people
today who dare
to address our lack
of adequate images.
We absolutely need images
in tune with our civilization,
images that resonate
with what is deepest within us.
We need to go into war zones if need be,
or anywhere else it takes us.
I'd never complain
about the difficulty,
even if it meant climbing
25,000 feet into the mountains,
to find images that are
pure and clear and transparent.
There's almost nothing left here.
You really have to search.
I'd go to Mars or Saturn
on the next rocket if I could.
NASA's Skylab program, for example,
and the space shuttle.
They take along biologists and others
to test new technologies in space.
I wish I could go along
with a camera.
Because it's no longer easy
here on this earth
to find that something
that gives images their transparency
the way you could before.
I'd go anywhere for that.
You're going to be Ionely
with them all gone.
It was really so sudden.
She was a headstrong woman,
but if I had known things
would come to this,
I'd have been kinder to her
while she was alive.
Living alone, I feel
the days will get very long.
Lonely.
You will be lonely.
THE END
FROM THE 1953 CULTURAL FESTIVAL
TOKYO STORY
Screenplay by
KOGO NODA and YASUJIRO OZU
Executive Producer
TAKESHI YAMAMOTO
Photography by
YUHARU ATSUTA
Art Direction by
TATSUO HAMADA
With
SETSUKO HARA
CHISHU RYU
CHIEKO HIGASHIYAMA
HARUKO SUGIMURA
SO YAMAMURA
KUNIKO MIYAKE
KYOKO KAGAWA
EIJIRO TONO
NOBUO NAKAMURA
SHIRO OSAKA
HISAO TOAKE
TERUKO NAGAOKA
Directed by
YASUJIRO OZU
Good morning.
Leaving today?
Yes, this afternoon.
Really?
This is our chance
to see all our children.
That's nice.
They must be looking forward
to your arrival.
Well, I hope so.
Keep an eye on our house
while we're gone, will you?
Of course.
Your children have all
turned out so well.
You're very lucky.
I suppose so.
And what beautiful weather.
Yes, indeed.
You'll have a lovely trip.
I still can't find it.
No? It must be there.
Oh, here it is.
You found it?
Yes, I did.
The simple fact is
there are few images left.
From up here you can see
everything's extremely built up.
There are few images
to be found.
One has to dig for them
like an archeologist.
One has to search
through this ravaged landscape
to find anything at all.
It's often tied up with risk, of course,
which I would never shun,
but I see so few people
today who dare
to address our lack
of adequate images.
We absolutely need images
in tune with our civilization,
images that resonate
with what is deepest within us.
We need to go into war zones if need be,
or anywhere else it takes us.
I'd never complain
about the difficulty,
even if it meant climbing
25,000 feet into the mountains,
to find images that are
pure and clear and transparent.
There's almost nothing left here.
You really have to search.
I'd go to Mars or Saturn
on the next rocket if I could.
NASA's Skylab program, for example,
and the space shuttle.
They take along biologists and others
to test new technologies in space.
I wish I could go along
with a camera.
Because it's no longer easy
here on this earth
to find that something
that gives images their transparency
the way you could before.
I'd go anywhere for that.
You're going to be Ionely
with them all gone.
It was really so sudden.
She was a headstrong woman,
but if I had known things
would come to this,
I'd have been kinder to her
while she was alive.
Living alone, I feel
the days will get very long.
Lonely.
You will be lonely.
THE END