What Did the Lady Forget?

It has something to say about age vs youth, and the way we make things work with those we love, but it's all relatively lightweight. This is a nice movie, but in comparison to the depths Ozu has taken me to before, this feels slight.

The niece is a brat, the professor is a doormat and his wife is a tyrant and yet this is a lighthearted fun movie. Ozu always does an amazing job showing families and giving us glimpses into their lives and it all feels so real.

Weak Ozu. Uninteresting characters, dull conflicts and quite pedestrian direction, at least by Ozu's standards. None of the performances stand out either as the actors are not on the same level as the ones featured in his best films, and the role of women has been better explored elsewhere in his filmography. All in all, I remain unconvinced of Ozu's supposed greatness before 1949.

A touch of Ozu's great sense of humor! The visit of Michiko Kuwano creates friction at the house hold! A young girl, seemingly heavily inspired by Marlene Dietrich, smoking and drinking without shame, acting like a masculine little rebel while still being a very desirable lady. This is something her strict aunt Sumiko Kurishima can't take, yet the aunt can't control her, no matter how much she demands her attention. A fantastic little mental cat fight going on! At the end Ozu gets naugthy!

A light family comedy about a henpecked husband and his wife. Their bratty niece stays with them and the husband and niece get into trouble involving lies. Liked the ending.