Well, this movie shot immediately up to my top 20 list.
I've seen Ozu movies before, but this one is wonderful. I choose that word because it's more wonderful than things that are described as wonderful, like "It's a Wonderful Life." This movie is ten hundred times more wonderful than that movie, and is so much more about being wonderful than that movie could be.
While traveling one day, a man picks up a flea-bitten stray. This stray, as opposed to being a dog or a cat, is a little boy, and when the man brings the little boy back to his neighborhood, a bit of controversy rises over who should take the young one in. After all, who needs another mouth to feed, especially in a selfish and war-torn Japan? Ultimately, though, the boy gets left with an old widow and, after a few false starts, they begin to feel a lot of compassion for each other. Ultimately the boy ends up touching the community in a way that makes them realize how much their limited resources and worried lives have lost the freedom and innocence of days when they weren't all so selfish.
As always, Yasojiro Ozu presents this story from a lower, humble perspective, framing everything around a little boy's point of view. The War is held in the background, only alluded to, and the drama is entirely in the world of adults as the boy just tries to fit in. It's a touching and memorable film that's worth better than the transfer it's received in DVD releases so far.
--PolarisDiB
I've seen Ozu movies before, but this one is wonderful. I choose that word because it's more wonderful than things that are described as wonderful, like "It's a Wonderful Life." This movie is ten hundred times more wonderful than that movie, and is so much more about being wonderful than that movie could be.
While traveling one day, a man picks up a flea-bitten stray. This stray, as opposed to being a dog or a cat, is a little boy, and when the man brings the little boy back to his neighborhood, a bit of controversy rises over who should take the young one in. After all, who needs another mouth to feed, especially in a selfish and war-torn Japan? Ultimately, though, the boy gets left with an old widow and, after a few false starts, they begin to feel a lot of compassion for each other. Ultimately the boy ends up touching the community in a way that makes them realize how much their limited resources and worried lives have lost the freedom and innocence of days when they weren't all so selfish.
As always, Yasojiro Ozu presents this story from a lower, humble perspective, framing everything around a little boy's point of view. The War is held in the background, only alluded to, and the drama is entirely in the world of adults as the boy just tries to fit in. It's a touching and memorable film that's worth better than the transfer it's received in DVD releases so far.
--PolarisDiB