DVD/150: KAZE NO NAKA NO MENDORI (A HEN IN THE WIND) (Yasujiro Ozu, 1948)

Made while Japan was under American occupation, this has been dismissed and even Ozu disliked it.  A somber film missing his usual gentle humour and - unusually for him - there are two scenes of violence.

Dressmaker Tokiko struggles to survive in post-war Tokyo; living in a single room with her young son Hiroshi, she longs for her husband Shuichi's return from the army.

Hiroshi is suddenly hospitalized for ten days and faced with the large hospital bill, Tokiko has no other option but to prostitute herself for one night.

Shuichi returns but any happiness ends when Tokiko decides to tell him what happened.  His anger matches her shame and he refuses to forgive her.

Shuichi visits the brothel Tokiko had used and meets Fusako, a young prostitiute. Through her he realises what the post-war conditions are forcing women to choose.

But is there any chance he will forgive Tokiko?

Shelf or charity shop?  This is on the same DVD as a far superior Ozu film so I will keep it on the shelf.  It is not one of my personal favourites but I can appreciate the performances of Shuji Sano as the conflicted Shuichi although Kinuyo Tanaka's Tokiko is a bit one-note in her despair.  There are fine performances from Chieko Murata as Tokiko's disapproving friend Akiko and Chiyoko Fumiya as the young prostitute Fusako.  It is a joy as always to find Ozu-san's favourite actor Chishu Ryu in the supporting role of Shuichi's understanding boss Satake - it was only six years earlier Ryu and Sano had played father and son in Ozu's CHICHI ARIKI (THERE WAS A FATHER).

 

DVD/150: CHICHI ARIKI (There Was A Father) (Yasujiro Ozu, 1942)

Filmed between Ozu's national service duties - in China between 1937-1939 then Singapore in 1943 - and adhering to Japan's 'national policy', CHICHI ARIKI manages to subvert dogma by alluding to the the emotional cost of 'duty done'.

Existing prints are post-war American versions which excised overt WWII references but Ryohei's army medical exams is evidence enough.

Ozu regular Chishu Ryu is memorable as widower Shuhei Horikawa, a teacher raising his son Ryohei alone.  He is a dedicated teacher but is devastated when a pupil drowns on a school trip.  Consumed with guilt, Shuhei quits teaching and moves to Tokyo to find work, leaving unhappy Ryohei to board at school.

Years pass: Shuhei is an office worker and Ryohei is teaching.  Ryohei tells his father he will leave teaching and move to Tokyo to be together again but Shuihei cannot condone Ryohei's dereliction of duty.

But can duty replace happiness...

Shelf or charity shop?  Watching the world from the shelf .  Ozu-san again provides an insight into parents and children, all the more impressive that he had to negotiate the Japanese WWII codes of Self-Sacrifice and Duty. Ozu wrote his first version of CHICHI AKIRI after THE ONLY SON was released and both have a similar theme - separated parents and children attempting to heal feelings of failed hopes - but the nuanced performances of Chishu Ryu (aged only 38 while filming) and Shuji Sano as Ryohei make it particularly memorable.  Ozu and his mother and siblings had been separated from his father during his teens so he knew the feelings involved but whereas Ryohei fulfills Shuhei's sacrifices, Ozu would avoid school to spend his days in cinemas and was later expelled for writing a love letter to a fellow school-boy.  CHICHI AKIRI was voted the 2nd best film in Kinema Junpo magazine's annual poll - number one was Ozu's THE BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF THE TODA FAMILY!