Yasujiro Ozu
Based on the directors silent film I Was Born, But…(1932), Good Morning is set in a small Tokyo suburb and presents two boys who take a vow of silence until their parents give in to their plea for a television.
Now and then, the boys sneak out of their house away from their English homework, to watch sumo wrestling on their neighbours TV, much to the disappointment of their parents. Their parents fear that a television in the house will breed idiocy and remove family conversation from the table, which the boys so easily dismiss as pointless small talk. The boys vow not to talk, and communicate with each other in their peculiar silent language. This strike fuels rising tensions in their small society which relies on family-like bonds and gossip.
In 2017, Criterion gave Ozu’s film a 4k digital restoration, and in effect, a new life where you can appreciate the director’s meticulous sets and colour schemes, which give the film a deeper meaning.
Good Morning
director YASUJIRO OZU
year 1959
director of photography YUHARU ATSUTA
cast KEIJI SADA, YOSHIKO KUGA, CHISHU RYU and KUNIKO MIYAKE
words PRIYESH PATEL
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