Another of the last few of our 50-film Criterion assortment, and at this point there's always a reason why we've put them off. In this case it's because it's a two-hour Ozu film, and, while I respect Ozu (we've watched Tokyo Story and Good Morning before), I tend to find them a bit slow. But this one's probably my favorite of the three, and, I would say, very accessible (perhaps even more so than the fart-joke-filled Good Morning, probably because there's more of a plot). People often compare Wes Anderson to Ozu, as both are fond of immobile cameras directed at precisely arranged shots within which the actors move about (or, more often, don't). As this is one of Ozu's late color works, there is also the similarity that they like colors that really pop, so each frame is a postcard. However, the auteur I was most reminded of was Jacques Tati, perhaps (as Jami pointed out) because of the light, jaunty score.
The main plot is simplicity itself: a rather shabby traveling troupe of actors is visiting a seaside town. The "Master" (everyone calls him that) of the troupe has an extra reason to be glad to be in what is otherwise rather a dead-end and unpromising destination, because he has an old lover there (who runs a bar/noodle restaurant, albeit a very low-key one that never seems to have more than one punter, and seems to be run out of the front room of her house)
and a now-teenaged son, who knows him only as "uncle" (his mother has told him that his son died when he was a baby) and whose education he has secretly been funding. He is delighted to find how smart the boy (Kiyoshi) has turned out to be (almost too smart - he easily beats his father/"uncle" at a board game (that didn't look like either Go or Chess) and is rather contemptuous of his acting). Also delighted is his old lover, who doesn't expect anything from him but to drink sake with her and watch the rain, although she does gently hint that maybe he should settle down. Complicating matters is the fact that the Master has not told any of his troupe that he has this son and is rather secretive. Also, their play is a flop, playing to rapidly diminishing houses, and suddenly their manager has gone missing. A woman, who is certainly younger than the decidedly middle-aged Master, but significantly older than Kiyoshi, Sumiko, certainly regards herself as the Master's lover and becomes suspicious of his absences. She manages to winkle out of one of the older members of the troupe that the Master has an old lover in town and when she comes to watch the show, she is pointed out to Sumiko. She goes there when the Master is visiting and creates a scene, almost revealing Kiyoshi's real parentage to him. The Master drags her away and gives her a savage dressing down in an extended scene where they shout at each other while sheltering on opposite sides of a street in the pouring rain,
and the Master thinks the issue is closed. However, Sumiko (whom he has called a slut, and accused of being a prostitute when he met her) has other plans. She bribes
Kayo, a much younger, attractive female member of the troupe (who is the daughter of a great actor who used to be in the troupe, but died) to seduce Kiyoshi, and she accepts, finding the boy at his part-time job at the telegraph office. (She gives him a telegraph that says "Meet me outside" and tells him that it's addressed to him.
She is successful, but then of course she falls for him in reality (he's a definite dish in his own right)
and tries to push him away because she's not good enough for him. However, she repeated fails, until they eventually make a half-hearted attempt to elope, until again, her conscience (at pulling him away from his schooling) gets the better of her.
Meanwhile other members of the troupe have subplots, notably three none-too-bright actors who loaf around town, in bars (when they have money) or on the beach (when they don't) picking up the town trollops.
In one late scene two of their number suggest making a break for it, taking as much of the Master's money with them as they can, until the third indignantly talks them out of it, making them feel very ashamed in the process.
And then, of course, the next day comes around and that third actor has done a runner with as many valuables as he could lay his hands on, and the Master is forced to sell whatever's left to buy train tickets out of there, and the troupe is forced to disband. For a moment this looks like the time when the Master will finally settle down with his family and disclose to his son that he's his father, an idea that makes his old lover light up. However, they then realize that Kiyoshi and Kayo have eloped (the Master has already seen them together
and found out the truth about Sumiko's treachery and kicked her out of the troupe even before the theft). Will he settle down? Will Kiyoshi comes back, as his mother thinks, or is he too much like his father, as his father thinks? What will become of Kayo? What will become of Sumiko, who really does love the Master, it's just that jealousy gets the better of her?
Well, watch it and see: it starts slowly, but the last hour fairly races by, and it's that rare combination of engrossing soapy story delivered in a beautiful art film package. Definitely deserved to have been seen a lot earlier than film #45 of 50.
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