Ohayo
My impression of Ozu is clouded by “Tokyo Monogatari”, an incredible borefest almost impossible to sit through. “Ohayo” is everything that “Tokyo Monogatari” is not. The Japanese awkwardness is present, but since Ozu is making fun of those antics, it’s awesome!
In “Floating Weeds”, you can see glimpses of the humor so omnipresent in “Ohayo”. It just has everything – all characters are amusing or lovely or both, the actors are all splendid and the visuals are amazingly stylish. I can almost not find a single fault with the movie, unpretentious yet sophisticated, critical yet subtle, stylish yet it only uses a small set. To top it off, it’s just so, so funny; I am seriously considering recommending it to Loris, and that means something.
Why is “Ohayo” not on the list of 50 movies children should see before they turn 14? This is an amazing example, and Minoru’s little “monologue” on how adults talk too much should become a classic in Japanese culture. Discovering that Ozu can be so funny was a revelation like reading the humorous newspaper articles Chekhov wrote when he was young. Ozu = Chekhov. Both were extremely observant and master the art of subtle humour.
According to a Criterion review, the “loose” neighbors have a poster of The Defiant Ones on their wall. That is quite an interesting movie to be displaying there (I want to see it!), and it shows how aware Ozu was of his surrounding – and of American influences. All Japanese directors, including Ozu, are American in some sense, and that might be the most interesting aspect of Japanese cinema, which is so lovely in its Japanese style.
The film is one of Shii’s favorites, and I can definitely see why. Perhaps there are other films that made me laugh more than this one, but it stands high as a great comedy coming from somewhere else than my usual sources (i.e. screwball or modern films).