Yasujiro Ozu's Passing Fancy 1933

Ozu in Japan, like Chaplin in the U.S., was slow to adapt to sound, making silent movies until 1936.  In Passing Fancy of 1933 one can see the developing of his style that would manifest itself in the great films of the 50's, including Tokyo Story (1953) and Early Spring (1956).  There are the low-angle shots, the so-called "pillow shots" (narrative interruptions of exteriors without people, often including laundry out to dry) and the detailed depictions of family interactions.  But Passing Fancy also includes tracking shots (practically non-existent in Ozu's sound films) and a concern for the illiterate and working class (replaced by the middle class in Ozu's later films).

Few of Ozu's films made it to America during his lifetime -- he died in 1963 after making his final film in 1962 -- apparently because he was considered "too Japanese," though it is hard to understand now what that might have meant.  If it refers to his style (low-angled static shots with long takes and minimal cutting within a scene) I don't think that is something that most filmgoers pay attention to, and if it refers to the dynamics of family life I think that, though there are many aspects of it that are specific to Japan there is also much that is familiar to Americans.

Passing Fancy is one of several films Ozu made starring Takeshi Sakamoto as Kihachi, an illiterate marginal and often intoxicated worker who is divorced and has custody of his young son Tomio, played by Tokkan Kozo.  Father and son have a contentious relationship, aggravated by the father's interest in a young girl who herself only cares for Kihachi's friend Jiro.  The film effectively delineates life in a working class area of Tokyo, where people help and support each other.  When Tomio becomes sick Kihachi borrows money to pay the doctor and leaves on a ship for a job in Hokkaido, but changes his mind and jumps off the ship to swim back to Tomio.  The film has many comedic elements of family life but it is tinged with melancholy about the present and vague hopes for the future.