Equinox Flower

This was Yasujiro Ozu's first color film in 1958. Throughout his work, Ozu controlled his elements so tightly and formally that adding color must have been a big step for him. The color serves to punctuate and tie together many scenes, though compared with the later Floating Weeds, the color sometimes seems overstated. But it enhances the visual imagery, as do several instances of reflected images which seem to comment on the characters. Ozu fans will relish this film, a poignant blend of family drama and societal change.

The story is similar to Early Summer in dealing with a daughter who wishes to make her own marriage decisions. But in Ozu, story doesn't count for much -- it's all about characters and relationships. The characters here are harder-edged, sometimes rude and manipulative, and in at least one case, blatantly hypocritical.

Much of the drama is watching the traditional father make a fool of himself as he publicly praises romantic love and privately condemns his own daughter for practicing what he has preached. He is utterly insensitive to his long-suffering wife. When the wife says, without apparent irony, that she was really happy when the family was all together in a bomb shelter during an air raid, her husband should have some clue as to what his family has endured since. Workaholic affluence has brought about greater distance between the father and his wife and two daughters. Can he ever see it, or will he left the family fall apart in his pride?

Relationships in other families mirror these dysfunctions in different ways. Ironically, the father who is driving his own family apart is seen as a source of wisdom and advice by other troubled parents. The end result is characteristically engaging and thought provoking in the quiet way that is uniquely Ozu.