Reviews (5)

Two pigheads are stronger than one
During a wedding celebration Mr. Hirayama (Shin Saburi) makes a humorous speech: Bride and bridegroom are already lovers, his own marriage was not a love-match...His own wife smiles and keeps silent. Other jokes are cracked: it seems that only men who are weaker than their wives beget sons - Hirayama has two daughters...

Setsuko (Ineko Arima), the elder one, is of marriageable age, a matter he is prepared to consider. He has, of course, his own conception of her future. The problem is that Setsuko has her own conception too. And so has her younger sister: "I'm going to find a husband by myself. I know many boys!". Other parents worry about their daughters too: Mr. Shotaru (Chishu Ryu), for instance: his daughter left him after a quarrel. She lives with her boyfriend and works in the "Luna-bar". Will Hirayama please inquire after her health? Her father has not the courage to face her...Hirayama's hypochondriac sister is in Tokyo too. She is hunting for a son in law. Her prey: a young doctor. She is so eager to get her daughter Yokiko married, that she is prepared to undergo a complete medical check-up. But Yokiko is smart: she feigns interest only because she thinks the trip is good for her mother's health...Setsuko and Yokiko agree: "Parents should stop acting as matchmakers". They promise to help each other. The Hirayamas make an excursion with their daughters, probably the last one before Setsuko's marriage. They remember the war. Hirayama hated it, but his wife misses the feeling of fellowship. He decided to speed up Setsuko's marriage...

...Not speedy enough: Next morning, a good-looking young man asks for his daughter's hand. He is in a hurry since he has been transfered to Hiroshima. Originally, Setsuko intended to break the news gently to her father...Hirayama grills his daughter, but she is determined to take the responsibility for her life in her own hands. Hirayama goes to the "Luna-bar" with one of his employees. This young man is well-known in this bar, and the presence of his boss pains him. Shotaru's daughter is happy with her boyfriend. She quarreled with her father because "Only his view counts". Hirayama is able to bring about a reconciliation. But he remains stubborn vis a vis his own daughter. He does not trust her: "Do you have an affair?". Yokiko pounces upon her uncle with a problem: She's in love. But her mother is against her suitor because it's not the one she selected. Since Hirayama does not think highly of his sister, he sides with his niece - and walks into her trap - her story was just fabricated; She hurries to the phone to tell Setsuko that her father consents in her marriage...Hirayama is sulking. He still opposes the marriage he did not arrange himself, and, since he cannot prevent it, he refuses to attend it. He is forced to accept congratulations and listen to his younger daughter's stories how much in love Setsuko and her intended are. Setsuko pretends that she does not mind marrying without her father's blessing, but secretly she cries. At last, Hirayama, still grumpy, agrees to be present. "For what do you need me?" Parents want to have a say...but one cannot live always in the past. When Yokiko visits her uncle again he is able to laugh at her act. She reveals that her mother only pretends to find her a husband: She is afraid to let her daughter go...Hirayama gives her the advice to take her future in her own hands because: "When children are happy, their parents are happy too". He has a bad conscience, because he did not smile once during the wedding. And now his daughter lives in Hiroshima. At last his sister has a good idea: Take the next train!

Another Ozu, another delight. My first one was love at the first sight, my fourth one is already an old acquaintance. No dissolves, the camera looks up to the faces (this makes sense, since the Japanese sit on the floor, except when they sit on the barstool, of course). The faces are familiar, and so is the scenery...Ozu's films offer intriguing insights into the fast socio-cultural changes of post-war Japan. He describes perhaps better than any other director the impact of american lifestyle on a tradition-conscious society. His protagonists are everyday's heroes, not the artistically superelevated figures of Shakespeare's plays or american westerns. I know: Kurosawa's light dazzles. But Ozu's warms.

Entertaining film
Although Equinox Flower may not be in the same league as Ozu's Tokyo Story or Late Spring, it is still a very entertaining movie. The plot centers around the Hirayama family. The father, played by Shin Saburi, seems to enjoy saying one thing, but doing another. At a wedding reception, he praises the bride and groom for choosing to marry out of love. But in his own home, the father is busy preparing an "arranged marriage" for his elder daughter. You'll no doubt smile and shake your head at his behavior.

This movie is noteworthy because of the appearance of actress Fujiko Yamamoto who earlier gained fame as the first Miss Japan. She plays a friend of Hirayama's elder daughter. There are also a few cultural jokes in this film that Western viewers may miss. In one scene, an intrusive guest named Mrs. Sasaki heads to the bathroom at the Hirayama home. She sees an upside-down broom and turns it rightside-up. In the old Japan, an upside-down broom indicated the homeowners didn't want visitors that day.

This is probably one of Ozu's funniest films, though I wouldn't necessarily label it a comedy. The story of the father is told with a sense of compassion. Rather than condemning him, Ozu allows us to watch as the ol' man slowly comes to the realization that the world around him is changing and that maybe he needs to change as well.

Start your Ozu experience with Equinox Flower
Equinox Flower was my first Ozu film. Now I have seen many of his films,but I think I was very lucky starting with this film. Equinox Flower is a bitter sweet comedy. It is not so serious as his best film Tokyo Story. It is relaxing and enjoyable. And you can learn the extreme beauty of Japanese way of life. Everything on the screen is neatly arranged and the colors are so beautiful.
Ozu had a very good taste for deep red color. He always wanted to put something red among the props. Look at Yamamoto,Fujiko's beautiful green color kimono. All the colors are not so bright and very gentle to your eyes.
Naniwa,Chieko is the funniest character in this film. Saburi,Shin played a typical Japanese gentleman here,and Yamamoto Fujiko proved to be one of the best comedienne in those days

Ozu's first color film.
Ozu's first color film is a carefully told epic about family struggles and the clash of different traditions and cultures. Being one of his trademarks, Ozu uses long shots and almost never close-ups. The rhythm of the film flows calmly and steady.

Along with Ozu's "Tokyo Story", "Equinox Flower" is one of the most precious films of world cinema and a stunning work of art that offers such great sympathy for its characters. Surely not to be missed !

ozu's first color film
as with every other major cinematic advancement ozu held out against color as long as he possibly could but his use of color in "equinox flower" and later films is just as inventive and seemingly effortless as in his black and white compositions. the director's color scheme shows up surprisingly well in this solid vhs transfer from the folks at new yorker films, whose reliability in terms of picture quality for their videos is sometimes questionable. as for the film itself the plot is a variation on the usual ozu schpiel about marriage and its consequences. the focus is, as always, more on character than plot and the film is has many well-drawn characters. "equinox flower" is highly enjoyable and certainly one of ozu's less demanding films. however, in this case it's a bit more of a curse than a blessing: in the end the film feels somewhat slight and it's not nearly as profound or memorable as ozu's best work. though i wouldnt recommend that anyone go out of their way to dig it up it's most definitely worth a look. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

"DeathQuake", the Japanese "Earthquake"
This film is one of the "great" Japanese non-monster-oriented disaster movies following in the footsteps of the 1974 Universal movie, "Earthquake" starring Charlton Heston & Ava Gardner. DeathQuake (AKA "Jishin Retto", "Magnitude 7.9", "Megaforce 7.9", "Earthquake Archipelago", & "Earthquake") was actually, I think, produced in 1975 or 1980, following the other "big" Japanese disaster movie of 1973, "Nippon Chinbotsu", or "The Submersion Of Japan", (which some may know better as "Tidal Wave" in which the film was cut and had scenes added with Lorne Greene for release in the US) and the 1975 film "Tokyo Gulf Burns" or "Conflagration," and follwed by the film, "Fukkatsu No Hi", or "Day of Ressurection" (AKA "Virus" Starring George Kennedy).

Anyway, DeathQuake is about a seismologist, Hoichi Kowazu, who predicts a massive earthquake will hit Tokyo, Japan, within the next thirty days, but nobody believes him. Meanwhile Hoichi has been having an affair with his co-worker and has hardly any time for his family, and his co-worker/mistress is having a "fling" with a newspaper photographer. Eventually Kowazu's wife's mother (who is an annoying old woman who cares only for her family's reputation; her husband predicted the 1923 earthquake that destroyed Tokyo) learns what her son-in-law is saying and tries to get her daughter to leave him. Kowazu has been trying to get his bosses to declare a state of alert in the city, but they refuse and eventually Kowazu's wife leaves him, but won't grant him a divorce until she meets his mistress, so they get on the subway to go downtown. meanwhile Kowazu's mistress is getting ready in her apartment and her photgrapher "friend" is in the elevator on his way up, when the earthquake hits...

The special effects in this movie are, well, cheap, and several scenes are very unbeleivable and poorly lit stock footage, but it is a Japanese 1970's film, so...But the disaster scenes are watchable, and some are very innovative, such as an airplane landing on the runway when the earthquake hits, crashing, and exploding; an apartment building tilting over, a massive tidal wave destroying a bridge, a subway flooding, and seeing the city on fire. So now Kowazu and his wife are trapped in the subway with many others while his mistress and the photographer are stuck on the top of a burning building. The whole country is in chaos as emergency supplies are trying to be delivered, but bridges are destroyed, roads are blocked and there is so much toxic smoke in the air that helicopters crash and people are suffocating. So, Hoichi must save his wife and everyone else in the subway, but the only way to do so may be to sacrifice himself...

Overall, this isn't a bad movie, but it is rather poorly dubbed, and the quality is very poor, making this film hard to watch. But it is, in many ways, much better than "Earthquake" of 1974, albeit probably cheaper and in far more poor quality. Yet this film is available in a special edition DVD, subtitled, at a Japanese internet movie store, but for forty dollars, quite steep, just thought I'd say, for someone who really liked this film.

The video version I'd give a 2 Star rating for poor lighting + quality, but the movie overall I would probaly rate as 4, so to be fair, a gave it a 3 here. ... Read more