The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (1952)

A childless middle-aged couple faces a marital crisis.

Director:

Yasujirô Ozu

Writers:

Kôgo Noda, Yasujirô Ozu

Stars:

Shin Saburi, Michiyo Kogure, Kôji Tsuruta

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shin Saburi	...	Mokichi Satake
Michiyo Kogure	...	Taeko Satake
Kôji 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:

cigarette smoking | generation gap | war song | singing | pachinko | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the 30-minute mark, the baseball team the women are watching at bat is the Mainichi Orions, as evidenced by the announcements of left fielder Takuzo Miyake and center fielder Kaoru Betto. The Orions were the defending Japan Series champions in 1951, but finished third in the Japanese Pacific League with a 54-51 record despite Betto hitting .309 with 16 home runs and 22 stolen bases, and Miyake batting .281. The franchise still exists as of 2020 as the Chiba Lotte Marines.

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Quotes

Taeko Satake: Think well before you pick your groom, it's important.

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Connections

Featured in David Bordwell on 'The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice' (2019)

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Soundtracks

Gaudeamus igitur
Traditional tune, lyrics by Christian Wilhelm Kindleben
Performed by Kôji Tsuruta

User Reviews

The Taming Of The Shrew

Michiyo Kogure is discontented with her long marriage to Shin Shiburi. She refers to him as "Mr. Obtuse" to her female relations and friends, and talks them into going on holiday with her, claiming to him that her niece, Keiko Tsushima, is at the resort, suffering from appendicitis; she's probably scared and lonely; and then Miss Tsushima walks in. Miss Tsushima is also a problem. Like many an Ozu woman, she doesn't want to get married yet, and certainly doesn't want an arranged marriage like her aunt. It's so primitive.

It all comes to a head one evening when he's enjoying rice with green tea and his wife doesn't like that way of eating it. He tries to explain that he likes simple, primitive, informal things, like cheap cigarettes and third-class railway tickets and pachinko machines. He understands she likes the 'better' things, and that's fine. And he won't pour tea on his rice any more. Her response is to walk out of the room.

I decided most of the way through that this was Ozu's variation on THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, without any of Petruchio's cruelty.... at least on the part of Mr. Shiburi. The studied cruelty is exhibited, in truth by Miss Kogure. There's not a cruel bone in Shiburi's body. He tries to get his niece to do the right thing simply by talking. He's remembered fondly by a member of his old army squadron as kind; he's sponsoring Kôji Tsuruta for a job at his company because he's the brother of an old high-school friend who got killed in the war. Perhaps Kate is a combination of Miss Kogure and Miss Tsushima.

The transformation of Ozu's style from before the war is almost complete. Gone are the American movie posters, although there's some discussion of a Jean Marais film; and the camera sticks pretty close to the floor, although there is one pull-in at the end of a scene, after the players have left. I'm not sure what that is supposed to mean.

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

20 November 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tea Over Rice

Filming Locations:

Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shochiku

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1