Record of a Tenement Gentleman
(Nagaya Shinshi Roku)
Screening on Film
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu.
With Tomio Aoki, Choko Iida, Reikichi Kawamura.
Japan, 1947, 35mm, black & white, 72 min.
Japanese with English subtitles.
With Tomio Aoki, Choko Iida, Reikichi Kawamura.
Japan, 1947, 35mm, black & white, 72 min.
Japanese with English subtitles.
A neglected Ozu masterpiece, The Record of a Tenement Gentleman has the ineffably sad, timeless quality of his best films. Set in bombed-out postwar Tokyo, the film charts the relationship between a stern, aging widow who does not like children and an abandoned child dumped in her lap. Exasperated by his gracelessness and bed-wetting, the woman becomes increasingly hostile and devises various ways to get rid of the child. Chishu Ryu has a delectable role as the peepshow proprietor turned astrologer who initially abandons the boy to the widow. Tender, humorous, and affecting, The Record of a Tenement Gentleman ends on a plangent note that suggests the scope of postwar Japan’s problem with neglected children.
Part of film series
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Yasujiro Ozu.
The Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu, 1941
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Yasujiro Ozu.
Record of a Tenement Gentleman
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu, 1947
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Yasujiro Ozu.
I Was Born But...
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu, 1932
Live Benshi Performance by Midori SawatoLive Musical AccompanimentScreening on Film
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Yasujiro Ozu.
The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu, 1952
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Yasujiro Ozu.
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Directed by Yasujiro Ozu, 1962
Introduced by Filmmaker Masahiro ShinodaScreening on Film
