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Ohayo (1959)

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2 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

An enchanting update of Ozu's own silent I Was Born, But..., dedicated to the proposition that small talk, however tedious and repetitious, is a necessary lubricant for the wheels of social intercourse. The setting is a residential suburb of Tokyo, in the process of transition to Western consumerism, where two small boys send the entire world to Coventry because their parents, fearing TV will breed idiocy (killing the conversation that the boys cruelly dismiss as small talk), refuse to have a set in the house. Radiating out from the resulting tensions and resentments in the community comes an extraordinary cross-section of tragi-comic incident. An old man gets drunk because he cannot get a job; a middle-aged man is brought face to face with his approaching retirement; a young couple are inspired to declare their love entirely in terms of the weather; an unwanted grandmother broods about filial ingratitude; a kindly woman is forced to move by neighbourly doubts as to her morals. A brimming sense of life, in other words, gradually transforms the small talk into a richly devious portrait of humanity being human.

Author: TM

Time Out Film Guide

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User reviews of this film

elle garden said...

Posted on Apr 03 2011 00:23 A wonderful and pleasing surprise. Laughed out loud at the small humor of everyday life.
I am a big fan of animation artist director Miyazaki. I can see how he was influenced by this film. Many similarities, including the soundtrack, points of view, attention to details and timing of children as they go through their day.

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Technoguy said...

Posted on Oct 26 2008 00:44 Good Morning is a hilarious film almost capturing the spirit of Jaques Tati and with it's Frenchified music
score reminding traditional Japan of the slow creep of
consumerism.The younger generation are represented
by 2 brothers who rebel against what they see as the
pointless small talk of the adult world.This takes place
in the housing estate suburbs of Tokyo.Their spirit of
rebellion is captured in small gestures,farting jokes(through sucking on pumice stone),avoiding their
homework through watching a friend's TV,refusing to speak due to not having their own TV.The houses are
shot,looking along their door fronts,and all seem packed so close together that neighbours often greet
each other from each 's open door,looking straight into their neighbour's house.Everybody knows(or thinks they do) what everyone else is doing.This often leads to gossip and innuendo.Older people show the changes
in their lives of retirement or redundancy or the beginnings of young love.One drunken elderly man ends up in the wrong house.There are many comic
incidents and episodes,all illustrating the bonds and
ties between the people in the community.The ending
is hopeful and exhilarating with washing flapping in
all it's colours on a sunny day.

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