Tokyo Sonata Movie Analysis

I’m back with another movie analysis that probably no one cares about! Lol.

But this time, I will be analyzing a movie that isn’t such a hyperbolic view of society in Japan and is instead a more literal look at Japanese society– this time with a focus on a family of four, living in tokyo. Comical, bleak, morose, and ironic, this movie keeps a three act structure- much like a sonata does. Our film opens up with a family so befuddled in their own lives they barely know each other. The perfect Japanese nuclear family: Ryouhei, the patriarch of the family. His wife, Megumi, a domestic housewife. And finally, his two sons, Kenji(presumably an 8th grader)and his eldest son, Takashi(18). Just minutes into the movie, Ryouhei is fired from his job. Times are difficult, especially with the issue of Japan’s economic crisis.Ryouhei marches home and hands his wife his salary for the month, fuming with a quiet anger. Failing to acknowledge his reality, Ryouhei pulls the wool over his family’s eyes and follows a routine specific to his working schedule. He instead plays a game of pretend. He pretends to go to the office, scours temp agencies for a job that may take advantage of the skills he has to offer, and surrounds himself in a sea of other cheerless, jobless men who serenade his ears with the sound of unemployment while they consume food at a nearby soup kitchen, originally inaugurated for the homeless. It’s not turned into a hub for unemployed men trying to maintain some normalcy in their lives. He can’t keep up with his lie, though. While Megumi is out running errands, her wandering eye catches a glimpse of Ryouhei, dressed in working attire, briefcase and everything–eating in the company of other unemployed men. Putting the pieces of the puzzle together, Megumi realizes what is going on. Meanwhile, her sons are attempting to pursue their personal interests- Kenji, skipping classes, using his lunch money to pay for piano lessons from the beautiful Kaneko; and Takashi, chasing enlistment into the military as he argues he views no future for him if he continues to reside in Japan. 

Yet, while the members of this family are so isolated from each other, they are intertwined profusely. Ryouhei forbids his sons from following the directions in which they want to follow. Ryouhei is insecure and autocratic. Any other successes in the family are viewed as a threat in his eyes; he is supposed to be the patriarch, the one in charge. The breadwinner. By watching his family, the one thing he is supposed to hold control over, succeed without his interference, through his own inadequacy he feels as though he is a failure of a person. Emotions and feelings are bottled up…waiting to explode into a symphony of disharmony. The ever growing rift between the family continues to deepen. This movie isn’t remotely traumatizing or disturbing, but instead a more honest look at one Japanese’s family’s financial demise and the life-tearing drama that unfolds along with it. The comfortable routine the Sasakis maintained is shattered, and the story that follows shows just how hard it is to put the pieces of a broken routine back together again. Once broken, a routine is hard to follow a second time. 

I believe that Tokyo Sonata is a genuine piece of art. It’s raw. It’s beautiful. It’s profound. I haven’t seen another movie that manages to capture the simplicity of everyday life, and reveal that it isn’t as harmonious as it appears on the surface, in such a way that Tokyo Sonata does. While we follow the Sasakis fall from grace, we also follow the agonizing consequences of unemployment–Japan specifically. We watch as Ryouhei succumbs to his inadequacies and is placed in the positions he once looked down upon; one job position that further highlights his humiliation is when he must work as a janitor at a shopping mall, realizing no one holds him with regard or respect- something completely foreign to him. We are introduced to seemingly very flat characters in the beginning of the movie, but it is quickly realized that these characters are much more complex and emotional than they let on- and are only able to express their true emotions when put through the traumatic events that evolve through the other two acts of the movie. There are many key moments in this movie that continue to stand out in my mind, but I won’t spoil it. I suggest watching this movie for yourself. You won’t regret it!

Sorry for rambling! Once again, just wanted to get my pure thoughts on this wonderful movie down in writing.