I've seen quite a few films by Yasujiro Ozu and this might just be the slowest movie of the bunch. As a result, you might get tempted to turn it off after a while--especially because the plot really isn't even hinted at until a lot of seemingly irrelevant stuff has happened. However, if you are able to keep watching, you'll be amply rewarded. Just understand first that much of what happens is very depressing--this is NOT a "feel good" Ozu film!! The story is about a man (Chishu Ryu--a guy who was in almost every Ozu film ever made) and his grown daughters. I daughter has recently taken her child and left her husband. Exactly why she dislikes him really is never discussed. The other daughter is younger and wilder. She has a secret and for much of the film you have no idea why she is trying to borrow money and comes home so late.

Much later in the film, you discover that there is a lot more to this family--much, much more. Their mother apparently abandoned the family many years ago and is now trying to re-establish contact with her kids. A brother was apparently killed years earlier. And, the youngest is pregnant and contemplating having an abortion! From the introduction of all these plot points, things get even worse--leading to a very, very sad conclusion to the film.

While this is anything but fun to watch, the movie is constructed so well and the characters are quite interesting. Like a typical Ozu film, they are normal folks--neither rich nor poor--just common people. But here, at least, their problems are far from common. Also, like any Ozu film, you have the low mounted camera that does not move with the action, but switches camera shots instead (as needed). This makes for a somewhat disconnected film in some ways--like you are a fly on the wall because there are no zoom shots either. You just look across the room at the players.

Overall, well worth watching but I advise making a pot of tea or coffee to drink along with the film--it will help you stay awake. This is not a criticism--just a fact about the very deliberate pacing of the film.

Yasujiro Ozu in my mind has got to one of the greatest directors in Japanese cinema, second only to Akira Kurosawa (also hold Hayou Miyazaki in high regard). As well as film in general, a feeling immediately felt after being blown away by 'An Autumn Afternoon' and especially 'Tokyo Story' years ago and this deep appreciation developed more when watching more of his work relatively recently. Again his work takes patience getting into it but if stuck with it's well worth it and more.

'Tokyo Twilight' is somewhat atypical Ozu. One can tell without any problem or hesitation that it's Ozu's style, which was a distinctive one and obvious in all his films regardless of the subject. The story though is a more intense one compared to what is usually seen with him and the approach is darker and bleaker than the usual gentle touch. That doesn't in any way stop it from being a wonderful film in every way, and is actually an interest point and what makes it stand out among his filmography.

It looks great, purposefully static yet never cheap, for starters, being notable for being the last Ozu made in black and white. With 1958's 'Equinox Flower' and all the films between that and 1962's 'An Autumn Afternoon', so the director's last six films, being made in colour. It is beautifully shot with distinctive techniques that Ozu used frequently, adds so much to the film's bleakness and an intimacy that allowed one to further engage with the drama. Ozu's direction has a little more tension than usual but also has the sensitivity, present in all his other major films, that few other directors before and since matched.

Kojun Saito, an Ozu regular, provides a haunting yet typically understated and sometimes nostalgic score, used intimately. The script is thoughtful and doesn't lay either the intense bleakness or poignancy on too thick. The story is deliberate but never dull, it is one of Ozu's darkest and bleakest films, with a never overplayed intensity between characters, while also very human and affecting.

Characterisation is not one-dimensional and very human, their strengths and flaws relatable and not taken to extremes in either way. Their situations also come over realistically and powerfully. The acting is great with a particularly riveting performance from Ineko Arima.

Overall, wonderful and one of Ozu's best. It is a shame though that it is not as better known as it deserves to be. 10/10

Ozu's stock company runs through variations on their unhappy yet loyal relationships to each other: Chishû Ryû as the father who tried his best and failed; Setsuko Hara as the seemingly obedient daughter, and so forth; the middle class home; the little bar around the office. It's all there and all as familiar as the nail's level view -- a bent-down nail, because the nail that sticks up gets hammered down.

We're told that Ozu is very Japanese and I wouldn't understand, but I find his world very familiar, even if everyone speaks Japanese. Growing up, I didn't understand Yiddish -- I still don't -- but my parents and uncles and aunts did and held conversation in it when they didn't want us to understand. Sometimes the discussions would escalate to shouting, and when I would ask what was going on, I would be told "You wouldn't understand." I understood they were unhappy, and for a child, there's nothing more frightening.

So that's what Ozu seems like to me: the same people, the same problems, the same language so I wouldn't understand -- but with subtitles. With the same cast, just like my family. As Wayne said to Howard Hawks, this time, can I play the drunk?