Rating: 18/20
Plot: Old people visit their children and grand-children and are indirectly told to go be old someplace else.
Like a lot of Japanese movies, this is a very wise movie. And quiet. In a way, it seems even quieter than Sunrise, the silent movie I watched in the Sight and Sound list top ten. It's not a movie that wows you exactly, but Ozu does manage to grip you emotionally. The quiet direction, simple dialogue, and complete lack of anything that anybody would mistake as action almost force the viewer to reflect. Ozu's camera shows his characters almost exclusively in shots two or three feet from the ground which gives this an interesting perspective. I'm not smart enough to know why he does that or what effect it has on the viewer. My guess: Ozu had a tripod incident in which he broke off part of one leg, had to shave off a few inches from the other two legs, found that they were still uneven, shaved off a few more inches, etc. until he was left with a tiny tripod that all the other directors probably made fun of behind his back. Well, the jokes on those other guys because I liked the look of this! I also like how the camera never moves. Well, it moves once, almost shockingly, at the one hour and one minute mark. As I said, Ozu gives us lots of time in this movie to reflect. Characters will leave rooms, but the camera lets us know that the room they left continues to exist for a few moments. It forces us to think about what the characters just said to one another. Adding to the reflective tone are Ozu's transition shots of pretty much nothing--a hallway and a window with wind chimes, a clothesline with white clothes, cloud, factory pipes, a boat. The dialogue is simple, and although the actors don't get any big moments to give them a chance to show what Acting with that capital A looks like, they're all good. Of course, the old couple are at the center of things, and they play human beings so perfectly. Chieko Higashiyama is terrific just because she has to sit there have more than one character call her fat. Chishu Ryu, who starts all his lines with an Um or a Yeah or a So, is stunning in the way he holds in all these emotions. They're really beautiful performances. Their dialogue is all so very simple. It's a lot of the unsaid things that mean a lot more than what is said, along with all these moments of silence. Glances between characters, especially, say so much.
One moment stands out in this, and it's a moment with some levity. I love how characters on a bus bounce together, almost right to the goofy accompanying music. It's a scene that would probably be more appropriate in a Tati movie.
This is a terrific movie. Don't get me wrong. It very well might be perfect. However, I wonder if it would even be in my personal top-15 for Japanese movies.
This is a beautiful and understated film that has a poignant ending that is quietly devastating. I love the old couple and it is so sad and realistic how they are shunted aside by their children who are busy with their own lives. Terrific movie. An 18.
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