Looking at Naruse and Ozu movies, you develop a clear idea of the relaxed yet focused way a Japanese family drama should be set up. Kon Ichikawa violates all those conceptions in this movie, with his parents all at sea and quarreling and his grandmother loving and autocratic, kind and cruel. The cinematic world of Naruse and Ozu had rules, and woe betide the mortal who did not bend before them, and stay bent. In Ichikawa's world -- in this movie, at any rate -- there are no rules, just chaos and trying to snatch some sense and happiness out of being the parent of a toddler --- or, indeed, of being a toddler.
That's in the world of this movie. Ichikawa is certainly much more sentimental than his elder film makers, with his moon that becomes a cartoon banana and then a boat. I'm not as fond of it, but I wouldn't argue with you if you asserted it was a matter of taste.
That's in the world of this movie. Ichikawa is certainly much more sentimental than his elder film makers, with his moon that becomes a cartoon banana and then a boat. I'm not as fond of it, but I wouldn't argue with you if you asserted it was a matter of taste.