'Our Families' by Marta Pinto: An Audiovisual Essay on 'A Portuguese Farewell' and 'Tokyo Story'

Abstract

Marta Pinto’s audiovisual essay on Tokyo Story (1953) and A Portuguese Farewell (1985), two central works in the filmography of Yasujirō Ozu and João Botelho, evinces the influence the 1953 film had on the Portuguese director. However, more interestingly the essay shows the extent to which both works differ in their approach to war. Not only are the plots in the two films presented in distinct perspectives but their formal modes are dissimilar despite the affiliation assumed by João Botelho. A reading of those differences, underlined by formal aspects of the visual essay, considers also the role of spectators in the complex relationship between cinema and the recent history of a nation.

Keywords

• Comparative cinema
• War
• João Botelho
• Yasujirō Ozu