As Michael Koresky points out in his accompanying essay to the Eclipse Series 10 film Tokyo Chorus (1931), it is something of a turning point for director Yasujiro Ozu. It marks the beginning of his mature era, it seems that at this point Ozu already had made 21 films, and seven previously that year alone. This silent film has a more realistic approach to his usual comedy tropes. Okajima (Tokihiko Okada) is looking forward to his annual bonus to buy luxuries for his family. However, a surprisingly dark turn of events finds the family in financial turmoil. This film was written by long time Ozu collaborator Koga Noda and has some great sight gags among the more realistic aspects at the onset of the worldwide Great Depression that was taking place at the time. The film also shows that even at this early stage, Ozu was using trademark visual elements such as still life cutaways and tatami view camera views for conversations in the family's house. According to Ozu scholar David Bordwell, from this point on Ozu is a major director.
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