Shukichi and Shige haven't seen their children for ages, so the elderly couple takes a long train trip to Tokyo.
Their kids and spoiled grandchildren have little interest in being with them, sloughing them off on the couple's young war-widow daughter-in-law, Noriko.
It's a sad commentary on changing times in Japan (and, probably, everywhere else), where towering smokestacks symbolize a harsher, colder reality and intimacies between the generations fall by the wayside.
I enjoyed the performances of the couple (Chishu Ryu and Haruko Sugimuro), who, although quietly hurt, seem resigned to alienations of the times, finding comfort in gazing toward the sea or the sky. "It was such a beautiful dawn," Shukichi muses. The couple's offspring seem more crudely drawn, and more harshly dismissive of their folks than seems entirely credible.
Unique amongst the younger folk is sensitive Noriko ("I'm quite happy as I am"), played by Setsuko Hara. Her husband having disappeared in the war, she's the only one with time and patience for the elders. Yet she isn't at peace, confiding, "Often I lay awake at night, wondering what will happen to me."
This film proceeds slowly, offering more nuances than plot twists, leaving a viewer sad to think of what the future may hold, regardless of cultural milieu.
Director Yasujiro Ozo, who, according to Wikipedia, lived with his mother until she died, seems to be urging us to wake up and appreciate one another.
As a newly widowed Shukichi admits, "If I'd known things would come to this, I'd have been kinder to her when she was alive."
Their kids and spoiled grandchildren have little interest in being with them, sloughing them off on the couple's young war-widow daughter-in-law, Noriko.
It's a sad commentary on changing times in Japan (and, probably, everywhere else), where towering smokestacks symbolize a harsher, colder reality and intimacies between the generations fall by the wayside.
I enjoyed the performances of the couple (Chishu Ryu and Haruko Sugimuro), who, although quietly hurt, seem resigned to alienations of the times, finding comfort in gazing toward the sea or the sky. "It was such a beautiful dawn," Shukichi muses. The couple's offspring seem more crudely drawn, and more harshly dismissive of their folks than seems entirely credible.
Unique amongst the younger folk is sensitive Noriko ("I'm quite happy as I am"), played by Setsuko Hara. Her husband having disappeared in the war, she's the only one with time and patience for the elders. Yet she isn't at peace, confiding, "Often I lay awake at night, wondering what will happen to me."
This film proceeds slowly, offering more nuances than plot twists, leaving a viewer sad to think of what the future may hold, regardless of cultural milieu.
Director Yasujiro Ozo, who, according to Wikipedia, lived with his mother until she died, seems to be urging us to wake up and appreciate one another.
As a newly widowed Shukichi admits, "If I'd known things would come to this, I'd have been kinder to her when she was alive."