THE FLAVOR OF GREEN TEA OVER RICE (Ozu, 1952)
Criterion Collection, Blu-ray, Release Date Aug 27, 2019
Review by Christopher S. Long
Taeko (Michiyo Kogure) and her friends
celebrate at a hot springs retreat in Shuzenji, Japan. They revel not
only in their vacation time, but also in the shared deceptive gambit
that has brought them together, a convincing lie told to each of
their husbands to free up a few days to relax away from domestic
obligations. Taeko only wishes the ploy had posed more of a
challenge. Her husband is so stupid and simple, a real “Mr.
Bonehead” as she repeatedly calls him.
The other married women laugh, but
Taeko's young niece Setsuko (Keiko Tsushima) joins in the mockery
with some reluctance. After all, she likes her Uncle Mokichi (Shin
Saburi) and when we finally meet him, after he's been framed through
Taeko's eyes through most of the first act, Mokichi turns out to be a
decent, hard-working man, maybe a little boring but surely no
bonehad. Setsuko later confronts her aunt, vowing that she would
never insult her husband like that. Of course, Setsuko isn't married
yet and might not be for quite a while as she currently refuses to
meet with the prospective suitor her mother has arranged for her.
Director Yasujiro Ozu's “The Flavor
of Green Tea Over Rice” (1952) has perhaps been somewhat eclipsed
because it was released between two of his most-beloved masterpieces,
“Early Summer” (1951) and “Tokyo Story” (1953), but nobody
should think of it as minor Ozu. Is there even such a thing? The
director, working once again with the great screenwriter Kogo Noda,
uses his deceptively unobtrusive camera (moving a bit more
prominently than in some Ozu films) and low-key approach to drama to
observe a broad swath of post-WW2 Japanese society, or at least in
Tokyo.
The film depicts a culture split by
rigid gender and class divisions. Men spend most of their time
socializing with men, women with women. As one of Taeko's friends
notes, with sympathy, wives only see their husbands at home where
they are “like turtles lazing in the sun” but in the workplace
they're more “like racing hares.” Taeko remains skeptical that
there's much “hare” in her Mr. Bonehead, but slowly and ever so
subtly (we're talking Ozu here) her perspective shifts.
Young Setsuko feels far less restricted
by hegemonic norms. Not only does she reject arranged marriage as
“barbaric” but she appears supremely comfortable as virtually the
only woman in male-dominated spaces, like in the stands at a bicycle
race or at night at a pachinko parlor. At said parlor, her very
supportive uncle thinks it's time for her to go home. When she
respectfully declines his advice, he threatens to leave her alone,
unchaperoned, which sounds like a mighty fine idea to Setsuko.
Taeko and Mokichi's marriage has been
slowly fracturing along class lines for some time now. She's a
sophisticated woman raised in the city, he's a simple working-class
man and war veteran from Nagano. She's ashamed of his fondness for
cheap Asahi cigarettes, but he likes the flavor and even the box
design. She's embarrassed by the way he slurps his food, and he
promises to do better in the future. Mokichi seems more tolerant of
Taeko's expensive, modern tastes, but he's not the sort to express
his resentments.
This makes Taeko sound like a
judgmental nag and to a degree she is, but Ozu and Noda don't deal in
one-dimensional characterizations. She's not a bad person, simply the
product of her environment and she's also capable of change, and far
more empathy than you might expect from someone who dishes out “Mr.
Boneheads” for cheap laughs. To add another dash of complexity,
it's the supposedly old-school Mokichi who endorses Setsuko's
rebellion against arranged marriage, while the “modern” Taeko
rages when her niece won't do the proper thing.
The film culminates in a truly
extraordinary final act which a mere recounting can't possibly do
justice to. A twist of fate reunites the couple unexpectedly for a
night at home after their maid has already gone to sleep. They
rummage through a kitchen they're clearly both unfamiliar with to
prepare a light snack which they eat together. And that's it, almost
the entire final act devoted to a quick meal, but that meal is
everything, the entirety of a marriage, of two lives shared for many
years, perhaps even of an entire society in constant change. And it
is nothing short of sublime.
Can the simple taste of green tea over
rice on one quiet evening save a crumbling marriage? With Ozu,
nothing is insignificant, so why not?
Video:
The film is presented in its original
1.37:1 aspect ratio. From the Criterion booklet: “This new 4K
digital restoration was undertaken by Shochiku from a 35 mm
fine-grain positive at IMAGICA Corp in Tokyo.”
This 1080p black-and-white transfer may
not be perfect, but it looks a lot sharper than any other version of
the film I can recall seeing. The image is quite bright with
excellent detail visible in fabric, interior decoration, and, of
course, faces. I don't know how much boosting was required to achieve
such a sharp look, but it doesn't seem like any detail was lost in
the process. Black-and-white contrast is robust too. A couple shots
looks a bit softer than the rest of the film, but it's not a problem.
This high-def transfer looks wonderful.
Audio:
The PCM Mono track sounds rather thin
and hollow throughout, presumably due to the original audio source.
There are no obvious dropoffs or distortions. Optional English
subtitles support the Japanese audio.
Extras:
A quick look at the back cover of the
Blu-ray case makes it seems like it's a bit light on extras, but
that's not true.
For starters, we get a second Ozu
feature film! “What Did The Lady Forget?” (1937, 71 min.)
presents a familiar scenario of a troubled couple with a freespirited
niece named Setsuko. The wife here is depicted somewhat less
sympathetically than Taeko, as domineering and vain, but it's still a
fine Ozu film which provides an early version of some of his better
later works. Video quality on this unrestored film is mediocre, but
still solid enough.
The disc also includes a short
documentary (16 min.) by filmmaker Daniel Raim which focuses on the
relationship between Ozu and his longtime collaborator, screenwriter
Kogo Noda. Ozu and Noda were good friends and blurred the lines
between friendship and work by often hashing out ideas while staying
up late drinking. Sounds like a good plan.
We also get a video essay by film
scholar David Bordwell (25 min.) which touches on various topics,
including some of Ozu's early influences (Harold Lloyd and Ernst
Lubitsch) and some context about post-WW2 Japanese society.
The slim fold-out booklet features an
essay by scholar Junji Yoshida.
Final Thoughts:
Two more Ozu films in the Criterion
Collection. Don't they have enough Ozu already? Answer: No, not until
they have them all.