Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (1952)

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

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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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:

Shôchiku Eiga

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the spa, the women mention the All-Girl Revue and sing a song from it ("It started when the violets were in bloom..."). This is most likely a reference to the Takarazuka Revue, an all-female musical theatre troupe based in Takarazuka, in the Hyogo Prefecture.

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Quotes

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

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Soundtracks

Love's Old Sweet Song
Composed by J.L. Molloy (as James Lyman Molloy)

User Reviews

Husband and wife are like the taste of rice with tea

Its about a rich family and arranged marriages. Taeko is in an arranged marriage which is not so successful, they communicate very badly and she lies to get out and do fun things with her friends. For her it is easy to lie to the husband as she thinks he is very stupid. Her niece don't want to go on a arranged marriage meet, but decide for herself who she wants to marry probably a sign of the times, the transition from traditional to modern Japan. In other ways also the modern is juxtaposed with the traditional, they wear kimonos as naturally as western style clothes. And her sister is working in a top position as a designer.

As another IMDb reviewer said this is most interesting because of the charming characters. The elegant, but a bit arrogant and selfish Satake Taeko (Kogure Michiyô) had me spellbound from beginning to end. All characters are interesting and the interaction and communication between them make up the movie.

The city itself takes up a small role in the movie as well, something I like a lot. Editing also is very clever at times. Its never ordinary or dull.