Good Morning [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Yasujiro Ozu Yasujiro Ozu

Overview

Yasujiro Ozu's Ohayo (Good Morning) is a comedy about a pair of boys who bring much trouble to their family and community by refusing to do very basic activities. The boys desire a television, but their father refuses. They are so insistent that the father eventually commands them to be quiet. They take him quite literally and refuse to speak at all, not even a typical polite morning greeting. Their impoliteness begins to weigh down both the family and the town as it goes against the ordered social structure of Japanese culture. The film is a remake of Ozu's earlier 1932 silent film I Was Born, But...

Product Details

Release Date:	05/16/2017
UPC:	0715515198011
Original Release:	1959
Rating:	NR
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Language:	English
Time:	1:34:00
Sales rank:	9,087

Special Features

New 4k Digital Restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack; I Was Born, But . . . Yasujiro Ozu's 1932 silent comedy, with a 2008 score by Donald Sosin; New Interview with film scholar David Bordwell; New video essay on Ozu's use of humor by critic David Cairns; Fragment of A Straightforward Boy, a 1929 silent film by Ozu; Plus: An Essay by critic Jonathan Rosenbaum

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Koji Shitara	Minoru
Masahiko Shimazu	Isamu
Teruko Nagaoka	Mrs. Tomizawa
Kuniko Miyake	Tamiko
Eiko Miyoshi	Grandma Haraguchi
Keiji Sada	Their Teacher
Chishu Ryu	Keitaro Hayashi
Yoshiko Kuga	Their Aunt
Haruko Sugimura	Kikue Haraguchi
Toyoko Takahashi	Neighbor
Eijiro Tono	Tomizawa
Haruo Tanaka	Tatsuko Haraguchi
Toshiro Mayuzumi	Composer

Technical Credits

Yasujiro Ozu

Kogo Noda

Yasujiro Ozu	Director,Screenwriter
Kogo Noda	Screenwriter
Shizuo Yamanouchi	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Good Morning is thoroughly enjoyable comedy that, somewhat atypically for director Yasujiro Ozu, is sunny throughout, without the darkness or sense of melancholy that rests under the surface of most of this gentle director's work. Also atypically, it is shot in rather startling color, rather than black-and-white, giving it a glossy visual sheen that is quite appropriate for the subject matter. Otherwise, Ozu's trademark visual look is untouched; Good Morning is filled with the same beautiful composed long shots, most often filmed from close to the ground, and edited sparingly. While there is a serious theme to Good Morning, involving the art and importance of communication and how different generations view it, its treatment is rather light and superficial. This makes for an undeniably charming film, but it also seems a little "safe" for Ozu, a film that in many ways would not have been unwelcome in Hollywood at the time. Still, the master director provides many wonderful touches, from the manner in which he creates and observes a very real and very specific community to the palpable affection he feels for his characters. The cast is perfectly in tune with the director, and the work of the children is especially impressive. While one wishes that the film were ultimately more substantial, it's still a wonderful light meal for cinema fans.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler