Equinox Flower like many of Ozu's other movies is about generation gap. But Ozu has a different way of showing the generation gap. There is no black or white, but just shades of gray. Even though the parents or the children may be in wrong on some issue, Ozu still wants us to feel sympathy for them. Instead of fights there are slight admonishments and instead of happy reunions there are reconciliations.
A large part of reason for that maybe the Japanese culture in which like many other eastern cultures parents are given more respect. But I think Ozu would have been able to make similar kind of films regardless of which culture he belonged to. This is because his films he films have universal values that strike a chord in everybody.
Equinox Flower is Ozu's first color film. He resisted for long time to film in color. But the result here is very good. It is also a relatively more modern film. Sake has been replaced with whiskey and beer. And the younger generation is more openly defiant. He has made a very judicious use of colors.
What I love most about his most films is the undercurrent of humor that runs throughout. Even though the topic itself is a little soapy, it never feels like that. I always end up smiling at the end of an Ozu film.
A large part of reason for that maybe the Japanese culture in which like many other eastern cultures parents are given more respect. But I think Ozu would have been able to make similar kind of films regardless of which culture he belonged to. This is because his films he films have universal values that strike a chord in everybody.
Equinox Flower is Ozu's first color film. He resisted for long time to film in color. But the result here is very good. It is also a relatively more modern film. Sake has been replaced with whiskey and beer. And the younger generation is more openly defiant. He has made a very judicious use of colors.
What I love most about his most films is the undercurrent of humor that runs throughout. Even though the topic itself is a little soapy, it never feels like that. I always end up smiling at the end of an Ozu film.