Otona no miru ehon - Umarete wa mita keredo (1932)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Yasujiro Ozu

Writers:

Akira Fushimi (scenario)
Geibei Ibushiya (adaptation)
(more)

Release Date:

3 June 1932 (Japan)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Two young brothers become the leaders of a gang of kids in their neighborhood. Their father is an office...

Plot Keywords:

Family Relationships | Innocence | School | Brother Brother Relationship | Train

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Tatsuo Saito	...	Chichi
Tomio Aoki	...	Keiji (as Tokkan-Kozou)
Mitsuko Yoshikawa	...	Haha (Yoshi's Wife)
Hideo Sugawara	...	Ryoichi
Takeshi Sakamoto	...	Juuyaku (Iwasaki, Executive)
Teruyo Hayami	...	Fujin (Iwasaki's wife)
Seiichi Kato	...	Kodomo (Taro)
Shoichi Kofujita	...	Kozou (Delivery boy)
Seiji Nishimura	...	Sensei (Teacher)
Zentaro Iijima	...	Asobi nakama (Friend)
Shôtarô Fujimatsu	...	Asobi nakama (Friend)
Masao Hayama	...	Asobi nakama (Friend)
Michio Sato	...	Asobi nakama (Friend)
Kuniyasu Hayashi	...	Asobi nakama (Friend)
Akio Nomura	...	Asobi nakama (Friend)
Teruaki Ishiwatari	...	Asobi nakama (Friend)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chishû Ryû	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Yasujiro Ozu

Writing credits
Akira Fushimi		(scenario)
Geibei Ibushiya		(adaptation)
Yasujiro Ozu		(idea) (as James Maki)

Original Music by
Donald Sosin

Cinematography by
Hideo Shigehara

Film Editing by
Hideo Shigehara

Art Direction by
Yoshiro Kimura
Takejiro Tsunoda

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kenkichi Hara	....	assistant director
Akira Kiyosuke	....	assistant director

Camera and Electrical Department
Yuuharu Atsuta	....	assistant camera
Masao Irie	....	assistant cinematographer
Toshimitsu Nakajima	....	lighting engineer

Production Companies

• Shôchiku Eiga

Distributors

• trigon-film (2007) (Austria) (theatrical)
• trigon-film (2007) (Germany) (theatrical)
• trigon-film (2007) (Switzerland) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD) (as Eclipse from the Criterion Collection)
• New Yorker Films (1972) (USA)
• trigon-film (2008) (Switzerland) (DVD)

Also Known As:

A Picture Book for Grown-ups: I was Born, But... (Japan: English title) (long title)
Children of Tokyo (USA)
I Was Born, But... (International: English title)
Umarete wa mita keredo (Japan) (short title)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

None

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Company:

Shôchiku Eiga

Movie Connections:

Featured in 100 Years of Japanese Cinema (1994) (TV)

Lost Innocence

I reckon this film to be Ozu's best work, although he is well-known for his "Tokyo Story" (which is also magnificent). This is a satirical comedy about human relations. Ozu brilliantly contrasts children's world with adult one. The child actors make splendid performance, entirely different from the players who show wooden faces in the works of Ozu's later years. The children in this movie are innocent and casual. Ozu is often thought to be a serious artist but he is a gag man by nature. He scatters various gags over the film, tactfully handling the child actors. I really admire his comic sense. Yet the trenchant irony underlies the story. Two brothers are outraged by their father for his clownish and subservient actions in his office. However, they finally understand and accept the hierarchy in the adult world. In a way this is a story of their growth but at the same time it is very sad that they lose their innocence.