生れてはみたけれど (1932)
umarete wa mita keredo
English Title: I was Born, But...
Directed By: Ozu Yasujirō
Written By: Fushimi Akira, Ozu Yasujirō
Starring: Saitō Tatsuo, Aoki Tomio, Sugawara Hideo
Length: 100 min.
Genre: Drama
Awards
1933 Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film of the Year
There are two types of movies that start off with a few strikes against them for me. The first is romantic movies. These, by far, seem most prone to 'paint by numbers' movie making. The same for it's offshoot, the romantic comedy.
The other type is a movie about kids. I don't find it especially entertaining to watch kids act like brats for an hour and half, so the movie better be exciting or funny (or both).
The story follows two young brothers, Keiji and Ryoichi. They have just moved into the Tokyo suburbs. The same neighborhood as their father's boss. The two brothers immediately get on the wrong side of a local bully, and to avoid him and his gang, they skip school. Their father follows them to the school the next day to make sure they go.
A local delivery boy who is older than the rest of them agrees to help the brothers. He threatens and humiliates the bully, and the two brothers become kings of the neighborhood. They immediately start acting like despots.
One of the neighborhood's kid, Taro, invites some of his friends, including the brothers, over to watch home movies. His father likes to make them at work and around the city. He also happens to be the brothers' father's boss. In the office videos, they see their dad acting like a clown and every one laughs. They realize their father is not an important person in the company and are humiliated.
At home, they start acting up and throwing tantrums. It was an epic meltdown. But the next morning after a failed hunger strike, they reconcile with their dad, and show signs that the hierarchy amongst the boys in the neighborhood was breaking down some and they all were just going to be friends.
Near the end, the father says to his wife (paraphrasing) "I wonder if they'll lead the same sorry lives as us." Only if they're lucky, considering what happens in Japan over the next 10-15 years.
Okay, so, I didn't enjoy the movie much. The kids were brats and the movie wasn't especially funny. There were some chuckles here and there, but not consistently funny. From a technical and artistic standpoint, it was definitely a "must watch" on any film study list. And I can see why people in general would love this movie. There's no head scratching from me for why this film is so highly rated, it's just not the type of movie I personally enjoy.
My Rating: 6/10
IMDB User Rating: 8.1/10 (4k votes)
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% of Critics (23-0), 90% of Audience (4.1 / 5 ; 1k votes)