Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (1952)
"Ochazuke no aji" (original title)

A childless middle-aged couple faces a marital crisis of sorts.

Director:

Yasujirô Ozu

Writers:

Kôgo Noda, Yasujirô Ozu

Stars:

Shin Saburi, Michiyo Kogure, Koji Tsuruta

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shin Saburi	...	Mokichi Satake
Michiyo Kogure	...	Taeko Satake
Koji Tsuruta	...	Non-chan / Noboru Okada
Chishû Ryû	...	Sadao Hirayama
Chikage Awashima	...	Aya Amamiya
Keiko Tsushima	...	Setsuko Yamauchi
Kuniko Miyake	...	Chizu Yamauchi
Eijirô Yanagi	...	Naosuke Yamauchi
Hisao Toake	...	Toichiro Amamiya
Yûko Mochizuki	...	Shige Hirayama
Kôji Shitara	...	Koji Yamauchi
Matsuko Shiga	...	Toichiro's mistress
Yôko Kosono	...	Fumi
Kinichi Ishikawa	...	Company President
Yoko Osakura	...	Kuroda Takako (as Yoko Uehara)

Storyline

Takeo, a capricious wife from Tokyo high-society, is bored by her dull husband, a quiet and reliable company executive raised in the country (Shin Saburi) After a crisis, she understands better his true value. A parallel sub-plot shows her niece rebelling against the tradition of arranged marriages.

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Plot Keywords:

kitchen | gossip | smoking | food in title | salaryman | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

20 November 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice

Filming Locations:

Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shôchiku Eiga

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Love's Old Sweet Song"
Composed by James Lyman Molloy

User Reviews

The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice

Another sensitive Ozu film about family. In this one, a somewhat upper-class woman resents her more simple, middle-class husband (by arranged marriage), while also encouraging her niece to go to arranged marriage meetings. As always with Ozu, I found an awful lot to like about this movie, but I wasn't quite enamored enough to gush over it. Most of the core cast is superb, although it's not Ozu's usual team (Setsuko Hara is nowhere to be seen, although Chishu Ryu and Chikage Awashima have minor roles). Michiyo Kogure might be a little too nasty, but I have to say it's kind of refreshing to see a less restrained character in an Ozu film. Perhaps the film wraps up too nicely and neatly, going too obviously for a touching moment, but I wouldn't say it's entirely unwarranted. At any rate, I enjoyed the film with its insights and gentle humor.