![A mother looks over at her pouting young sonalr](/public/upload/events/medium_wide/644998a1e7220.jpg?1682544804)
After his return from a POW camp near Singapore in 1946, Ozu immediately reentered the studio system and wrote the script for Record of a Tenement Gentleman in twelve days. Although the film was not especially well-received, and Ozu admitted to being tired and rushed while making it, there is a profound purity to its lack of polish. Encouraged by her neighbors (including Sakamoto Takeshi's Kihachi), childless widow Otane (Iida Choko) reluctantly takes in Kohei (Aoki Hohi), a boy whose father has disappeared following the bombing of their house. Otane finds the boy irritating and burdensome, but over time the two form a special relationship—a bond that stands out among Ozu’s many depictions of relatives linked by blood or marriage. Ozu does not hide that Otane’s trajectory from unkind stranger to selfless caregiver is intended to stir feelings of hope among an Occupation-era audience. But the sensitivity of Iida Choko’s performance as Otane and Aoki Hohi’s timidity as Kohei elevates Record of a Tenement Gentleman several stories above the flatness of a postwar parable.
Part of film series
Screenings from this program
Late Spring
![two women in traditional Japanese dress sitting on a mat indoors, looking at the camera](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/64498b123f5ee.jpg?1682541335)
Tokyo Story
![Two young Japanese women in shirts and skirts sit on stools on the street, slightly smiling and looking at the viewer](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/64498be38e74d.jpg?1684418221)
Early Summer
![Medium wide shot, down a short hallway, of two women in the kitchen, one cutting a cake and smiling](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/64498eb3188e1.jpg?1682542260)
Passing Fancy
![A woman in traditional Japanese dress and a man with a beret, sitting next to each other looking despondent](/public/upload/events/thumb/64498fca874a9.jpg?1682542665)
Dragnet Girl
![close-up of a woman behind a man with a fedora, she has one hand on his shoulder and the other points a gun](/public/upload/events/thumb/6449919b6b80e.jpg?1682543009)
Tokyo Story
![Two young Japanese women in shirts and skirts sit on stools on the street, slightly smiling and looking at the viewer](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/64498be38e74d.jpg?1684418221)
A Story of Floating Weeds
![two women in traditional Japanese dress stand next to each other, bodies facing sideways and turned toward the camera, one with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth](/public/upload/events/thumb/644992ee61b42.jpg?1682543347)
Days of Youth
![a line of youth and adults smiling at the ski slopes](/public/upload/events/thumb/64499461ecdcf.jpg?1682543716)
The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice
![a group of women wearing the same graphically printed traditional Japanese dress](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/644997b24a06e.jpg?1682544564)
Early Spring
![a group of young Japanese men and women at dinner gaze at one man and a woman shaking hands over the table](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/644a8498d959e.jpg?1682605211)
The Munekata Sisters
![man in a suit sitting on the stairs of a Japanese temple with his head turned toward the woman next to him in traditional Japanese dress, speaking](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/644a7e92a919a.jpg?1682603668)
Floating Weeds
![a Japanese man and woman in traditional dress look past the camera with concerned expressions](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/644a8c8b0d2de.jpg?1682607503)
Good Morning
![two young Japanese boys sit sideways at a desk in a bedroom turned toward and looking at the viewer](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/644a8f48c5854.jpg?1682607947)
Late Autumn
![three Japanese women seated on mats with tea, one wearing traditional dress](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/644a9b3c3097b.jpg?1682611255)
Tokyo Twilight
![a Japanese woman sits facing the viewer, resting her head on her hand which holds a cigarette](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/644aa2d603d3a.jpg?1682612952)
The Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family
![close-up of a young Japanese woman resting her head on the shoulder of a young Japanese man](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/644aa47598b4f.jpg?1682613369)
I Flunked, But …
![](/public/upload/events/thumb/644aa6c91b129.jpg?1682613964)
Late Autumn
![three Japanese women seated on mats with tea, one wearing traditional dress](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/644a9b3c3097b.jpg?1682611255)
Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth?
![a young man with a military cap leans on the counter of a bar looking at another man in military garb looking down while a woman stands behind the bar, between them](/public/upload/events/thumb/644aacbc8fcd5.jpg?1682615487)
The End of Summer
![a young woman in Western-style dress and an older woman in traditional Japanese dress lean on a porch railing, smiling and looking out](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/644aaddad5717.jpg?1682615778)
Early Spring
![a group of young Japanese men and women at dinner gaze at one man and a woman shaking hands over the table](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/644a8498d959e.jpg?1682605211)
Café Lumière
![a seated woman stares off in the distance and in the middle ground a man seated at a table with tea looks off while a young woman in the distance sits next to a window drinking tea](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/644ab0de6a043.jpg?1682616544)
Tokyo Story
![Two young Japanese women in shirts and skirts sit on stools on the street, slightly smiling and looking at the viewer](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/64498be38e74d.jpg?1684418221)