The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice

Tokyo, 1950s: Taeko and Mokichi have been married forever. Now they are facing a marital crisis that brings to light how different they actually are. Mokichi, a businessman, is from a humble family in the country and has ditto wishes and preferences. He likes smoking cheap cigarettes and his favourite dish is ochazuke ("green tea over rice"). His wife Taeko is quite the opposite, a sophisticated Tokyo born and raised woman who is bored with her reliable but simple husband. Do they have anything in common at all? The arrival of Taeko's lively niece Setsuko from the city brings things to a head.

In this subtle drama, Ozu uses calm, balanced images and sparse dialogue to show how class differences can disrupt a long marriage. The film, which has not been screened in the Netherlands for decades, was for Ozu himself one of his personal favourites of his own films.