an absolute piece of crap!

nice furniture.

#948

I probably shouldn't have watched this right after Late Spring because it didn't have near the same effect its predecessor had. Setsuko Hara is wonderful, as usual, but Chishu Ryu is underused and I noticed no standout moments this time around.

It's amazing how Ozu can get so much life out of a story that would probably seem slight or even silly on paper. Ozu's meticulous approach to colour, always impressive, is particularly stunning here; remarkable that a director could jump into colour film with such a fully-formed vision of how they should look, after working in B&W for so long.

# 948

A very entertaining light drama that reminded me of Sirk with its striking colours and constant jabs at social conventions. The content of the story itself isn't all that interesting, but it's the way it develops that gives the film its heart and its edge. The acting is wonderful and helps create characters that are enjoyable to watch, as well as conveying the subtleties of the script not just with dialogue but with facial and body expressions.

This is a fantastic movie, and immediately became one of my favorites by Ozu. I'm often just on the verge of becoming an fan, and it's films like this that almost make me take the plunge and buy up all the DVDs. It's one of his lighter works, with a lot of humor (it's jarring, but not unwelcome, to hear such sexual innuendo in an Ozu film) and charming characters and a lovely, gentle score. There's something about Ozu's sense of color that greatly appeals to me. Setsuko Hara is marvelous.

952

Another great collaboration of Ozu and Setsuko Hara. This time Hara is the mother overseeing her marriage daughter, whereas in earlier films she played the part of the daughter. In middle-age, she is still very beautiful and the finest Japanese actress of her era.

This time, I think Ozu's favorite theme (widower and single son/daughter dilemma) gets repetitious. But there's his stylish trademark, the typical Ozu cinematography, etc.. And the last scene is wonderful.

916

This was my first exposure to Ozu, and so far it's my least favorite. It looks beautiful, the framing is immaculate, the acting is spot-on, and so on, but the story is a big bunch of nothing -- even more so than the other Ozus I've seen (which, admittedly, is still just two others). It's good, but it completely failed to hold my attention from beginning to end. And I'm not the type to generally dislike slow movies where "nothing happens" either.