The younger daughter announces she will never get married, so her parents start looking for a husband. While this Ozu comedy plays out in the background, Mikio Naruse's drama gets underway. Ken Uehara returns to the Tokyo headquarters of his company, so the elder daughter, Yôko Sugi, his wife and he must find a place to live. They move into the house of his co-worker, Keiju Kobayashi, whose wife has just died. Miss Sugi tries to take care of both men, but there's never enough money, and Uehara gets the idea that his wife cares more for their landlord than him. Little problems get magnified. Ozu's world of upper management is clearly seen in the background, while Uehara's coat has its lining hanging out the back.
Has Naruse made a travesty of Ozu's comedies? I think not. Ozu's world clearly exists in this movie, but it's irrelevant to the issues here. No one in an Ozu movie would go to a cheap funfair. No one worries about money. No one thinks their wife might be carrying on an affair in Ozu's movies, and husbands don't lose interest in their wives because their breasts become less attractive after a couple of babies. As in Ozu's movies, no one will admit to having a problem; when Uehara asks Miss Sugi what's wrong, she says 'nothing'.... but something clearly is. Getting along with your spouse is work. There are problems that have to be worked out.... and sometimes the solutions are neither easy nor really satisfactory.
