Superb central performances by Kinuyo Tanaka and Hideko Takamine. Takamine is a sprightly comic presence, afforded many lovely funny moments but also appropriately moving in dramatic scenes. And as the film progresses and we learn how trapped Tanaka’s character is in her marriage, how duty drives her daily life, how she is deserving of the happiness constantly denied her, the pain in her performance becomes almost unbearable.

Movies in the City

Retroactively fun as a glimpse into the later years of Japan’s postwar occupation. While no foreigners appear, their influence is plainly visible: an office building rife with English signs for Time, Life, and Bible House; a café with a Coca Cola sign prominently hung from the ceiling. Meantime, the characters reminisce about the war and prewar years: a bartender character is a former pilot, and Mariko attended junior high in Manchuria, infamously annexed by Japan in 1931. And there’s a pleasure consistent across all surviving Ozu works: the exquisite sense of design, the natural flow of images.

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