Movie #20: Released in 1949, directed by Yasujiro Ozu, 110 minutes. New to me!

LetterBoxd score: 5 stars

I had never seen an Ozu movie; this one, at least, is quietly beautiful and moving. It’s about a father and daughter who share a really strong bond; so strong that the daughter doesn’t want this phase of life to end. But end it must – one day her father will die, and then it will be too late to start life anew.

The movie is all about mourning a necessary change. It ends with a pair of heartbreaking sequences – the daughter, miserably about to get married (to an unseen husband); and the father, coming home alone and breaking down to cry while peeling an apple. Cut to ocean waves.

The acting is great; I especially like the daughter (I can’t remember her name at the moment as I watched the movie weeks ago by the time I write this). She’s all smiles at first, kind of pulling off what could otherwise be a bit of a monotonous conflict-free section of the movie. But she pulls off sadness. The dad got me even more.

Beyond that, it’s an interesting depiction of post-war Japan putting on a brave face; though there are references to war, everything more or less seems fine. There is no rubble, no disfigured people. Maybe the carnage was so fresh that no allusion to it was necessary.

Indeed, perhaps the movie is about a lot more than giving up on a comfortable life that can’t last and turning to a new married one. Perhaps a Japanese audience is also thinking about leaving behind the past (symbolized by the older father) and turning to the new future. By all accounts it sounds nice, but the past can still be mourned.

Why would someone think it’s one of the ten greatest films ever made?

It feels like one of those iconic stories that encapsulates a rich set of ideas, with characters who simultaneously feel like archetypes and real people.

Next Week: Sunset Blvd