Director: Yasujirō Ozu, Japan 1953, 137 minutes, 35mm, original Japanese version with German subtitles

Monday, May 19, 2025, 7 pm

Blue Salon, Room 012, HfG Karlsruhe

Free admission, donation requested

“Tokyo Story is a quiet, sad, indescribably beautiful family story: it tells of a journey that does not fulfil its promise, of a life that is broken by modern civilization and becomes obsolete. Once again, the great traditionalist delves into the ultimate depths of his theme, which deals with ageing, dying, renunciation and failure; the sentence “Yes, it is true when you lose yourself, you can only ever look for each other and you still won't find each other.”

Ozu seeks refuge from the fleetingness of experience and the present in perfection, with crystal-clear and yet unfathomable images whose vanishing point points to infinity and whose precision can at best be compared to that of Robert Bresson. With his calm shots, this surprising figure in film history makes the greatest dramas, the most hidden human emotions tangible.” Bruno Jaeggi, Basler Zeitung 5.7.1983

In the supporting program: All My Life
Director: Bruce Baillie, USA 1966, 3 minutes, 16mm, Without dialog

The Kino im Blauen Salon, the student cinema of the Hochschule für Gestaltung, has been run by students since 2017 and has been a registered association since the beginning of 2024: https://kinoimblauensalon.de/de/news.

More about the film series in summer semester 2025:

Kino im Blauen Salon, the student cinema of the Hochschule für Gestaltung, invites you to the new program for the summer semester! Our film program, which was awarded 1st prize by the Deutsche Kinemathek, is now in its 18th semester! Time to take a brief look back... In our early days, cineastes were few and far between in the Blauer Salon, whereas today the room seems almost too small. But we have always remained true to our ideals: Analog film screenings in 35mm & 16mm, joint voluntary work with free admission and a relaxed HfG atmosphere. And the summer open-air cinema on the lawn in front of the HfG is already in its 6th round, this time at the end of May! So it's time not to look back, but to look forward: To another summer semester full of cinematic-poetic cinema highlights:
Our main interest this summer is poetry, because the nights are getting longer, the horizon endless and there's something in the air. But what does cinema have to do with poetry? Find out in our “Cinema Poetico” series, in which we set off on multiple narrative strands, meandering perspectives, visual detours and everything that lies between the lines. The series presents a hand-picked selection of classics and hidden gems that form the silent branches of cinema.
There are also nightly excursions with our “Midnight Movies”, the legendary Kult Sneak, experimental short film programs, workshops, specials, guests and, of course, the highlight of the cinema year, the open-air cinema in front of the HfG, under the motto “Freedom in Change”. See you soon at the movies!