Master filmmaker Yasujirô Ozu stays true to form in his penultimate film, charting changes in Japanese culture thru generational clash as a widower’s health declines along with the finances of his small, independent ‘sake’ brewery. And he does so right from the opening shot, a nighttime landscape of neon signs in downtown Osaka with one prominently reading NEW JAPAN. Brave New World meets tradition, complicated here by the widower’s three daughters, two being nudged toward marriage while Father renews an old relationship with a mistress. A revived friendship frowned upon by another of his daughters, but encouraged by the grown daughter of the mistress. She’s careful to always call him ‘Father’ (which he might well be) and hint at getting a mink stole from 'Dad' before heading out with one of her tall, blonde American suitors. Perfectly paced, beautifully composed, the film is, perhaps, less essential then some Ozu, but who would want to deny themselves the tragicomic pleasures & character-laced dramatic roundabouts in Ozu’s uniquely endearing filmmaking quirks, brimming with unexpected emotion?
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: As Charles Schulz liked to put it: A cartoonist is someone who has to draw the same thing day after day without repeating himself. He was, of course, talking about PEANUTS, but the sentiment might well apply to the recurring patterns & themes (visual & dramatic) of Ozu’s post-war output.
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