Good morning (1959)

Good Morning, directed by Yasujiro Ozu, is perhaps not a film as groundbreaking as Tokyo story. Yet, in tracking the slow pace of ordinary life, Good morning is a remarkable film, a film that treats its characters tenderly. Some has called this a comedy. I would hesitate to label the film in that way. What I would say, however, is that Good morning is a far more lighthearted film than, for example, Tokyo story. The film is filmed in beautiful, bright colors. It follows a small community. We see their houses, situated under high-power lines. This is only one reference to modern life. The entire film revolves around that theme, it seems. Two boys decide to stop talking to grown-ups until they convince their parents to purchase a TV. Their desire is to watch sumo wrestling - and baseball. Their parents chat with each other, and the neighbors. Their lives are taken up by gossip and back-stabbing. The kids who decide to take a silence vow upset their parents by claiming that adults engage in idle chatter. I might not have been impressed by this film in general, but I must say that the performance of the child actors was really impressive. It's a good film, but not on a par with Ozu's best work.