Examine the movie ‘Tokyo Story’ by Yasujiro Ozu as closely as possible, but examine only the features “within the frame” (eg the movie aesthetic itself). Write a formal analysis of it which utilizes this evidence to make an argument.

A formal analysis is a description which contains within it an argument about what the work of art means. It is, first of all, a highly-detailed and accurate description of the work of art’s visual appearance, but, second, it is also a piece of writing which, in its choice of words, syntax, and rhetoric, a convincing argument for what the work of art means, utilizing only the visual appearance of the work itself as evidence. To write a successful formal analysis, you should employ as many of these aspects of the work as applicable: its size, scale, materials, line, color, volume, design, surface, texture, brushwork, mass, shape, contrast, lighting, and composition. Utilizing as many of these formal qualities as possible as visual evidence, you should establish the work’s style and tone, their relationship to the work’s subject matter and content, and finally, make an argument (only on the basis of the above) on the work’s historical, cultural, and aesthetic significance. A successful formal analysis is judged by how convincing it is.