Watching this my mother thought I had one of those 3D TVs: to Ozu's credit every shot is beautifully crafted with depth cues and nuance that's missing in a lot of movies today. The story is light-hearted but not to be brushed off in favor of heavy stuff like Tokyo Story or the other depictions of family dissolution. The script is playful and elegant in its compactness. Like Mozart you lose yourself in sheer joy in the playful architecture. And there are fart jokes.

A strange little movie about two little boys who go on a silence strike when their parents deprive them of television, and how this strike affects the family's already strained relations with the neighbors. It also contains more than a few fart jokes. A charming, lesser Ozu film.

Fart jokes, gossipy women, bratty children, it all plays out like a bizarro Ozu film. Still, it does have his unique visual style, interesting character relationships and creatively executed commentary on modernity and human interaction. Charming moments and a lighthearted tone make this nice to watch, but it's not without issues. For example, the fart jokes.

A charming comedy which does contain a lot of ideas. Amongst the many, the most interesting for me is about communication and whether it, such as friendly greetings and gossip, is pointless or has meaning to it. Even the farting, possibly the most you will ever find in an arthouse film, ties in with this for me; is unnecessary and vulgar, or is it something that adds to life while causing the viewer to smirk?

Proof that fart jokes CAN be funny. I love you!

Proof that nothing even the most inconsequential things are important to the Japanese.

I recommend seeing this after you've become somewhat accustomed to Ozu's style. The story might be rather on the lighter side, but I reject the criticism that it's trivial. Many of the typical Ozu themes are present, such as family life and the rise of modern Japan. The extensive usage of certain colors is also interesting. Keeping in mind that this is one of the few color pictures that he made during his life, the result is beautiful and consistent cinematography throughout the movie.