The last half hour was wonderful, a humanist, tender look at the class divide and how it can effect people, a look at humility, respect and family bonds and at how these two kids are having to come to terms with this all after their disillusionment. The problem was though that it took an hour to get there and though they were definitely charming and amusing I simply don't find kids interesting, charming or amusing enough to find an hour of their frolicking around all that fascinating.

482

If you remember the TV program, *The Little Rascals*, this is similar except less silly. Ozu respect and non-judgmental approach to characters are still there. Finally, is there any director better at getting authentic performances from children?

#486

Like a lot of Ozu, this seems to want to simultaneously satirize and romanticize family life & social mores. Ozu manages a pretty even balancing of the two urges here. This is pretty light fare, and the kids' cutesiness seems a little too choreographed but most of the humour works. I like the parallels between the worlds of kids & adults shown, and there are also some interesting observations about the image children hold of their parents, and the expectations parents have for their children.

Ozu hits it out of the park once again [still on the near-top of his game in the technical ranges], proving that silents needed at least 5 more years to get the best of the era. Such a wonderful imagination & humor here.

# 460

This is pretty different from later Ozu but it still contains much of the generational commentary common in his pictures. Very well done, it's light but not slight, capturing a real slice of childhood and extending it to the power dynamics that exist throughout society.

429

There are some nice shots and some funny parts, and I thought it was a surprisingly (and pleasantly) humanistic film for its time, but I guess I have a problem in general with movies about small children, excepting the occasional 400 Blows. I don't find kids especially interesting or amusing. I'm more interested in the adults, and hence I much preferred the last 20 minutes of the movie to the preceding hour.