Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice

FLAVOR OF GREEN TEA OVER RICE
OCHAZUKE NO AJI
Japan
1952
115 Min
Black and White
1.37:1
Japanese
DIR Yasujiro Ozu
SCR Kogo Noda, Yasujiro Ozu
DP Yuuharu Utsata
CAST Shin Saburi, Michiyo Kogure, Koji Tsuruta, Chikage Awashima, Keiko Tsushima
ED Yoshiyasu Hamamura
MUSIC Ichirô Saitôse
My Rating : 5/5


I am back to writing reviews and yet again, it happens to be an Ozu film. I guess it is because his films are so simple to comprehend and analyze that I can’t help but write at least a few words about them.
This is a fairly simple story about a married couple that somehow doesn’t seem to get along. The wife has higher expectations from her husband who unlike her prefers things that are intimate,private,familiar and relaxed. Hence he prefers travelling by train in a third class, prefers a cheaper cigarette brand to something expensive and most importantly he is satisfied with the taste of green tea over rice. In short the husband is a simple, down to earth person who wants to have quality over quantity which unfortunately the wife doesn’t seem to appreciate. The wife has a niece who is eligible for marriage but she isn’t very keen to marry having observed her aunt’s unhappy married life. By the end of the movie though, the wife understands her husband’s preference when he is about to leave abroad and in one extended supper scene, love blossoms between the couple. This scene like many others, emphasizes the genius of Ozu who seems to understand the primal instincts of human beings better than most directors. The aunt’s new found happiness in married life impresses the niece and the film ends on a hopeful note that she is now ready to get married.
We often come across movies with complex plots and avant-garde productions but all these pale in comparison to Ozu’s simplicity which like this films title is the staple food that one can’t do without.