From a synopsis, one would think that the central conflict of this film is about a father who disapproves of his daughter's fiancee. Three-quarters of the way through the film, the wedding occurs and the father finally decides that he will attend this wedding that he never approves of. However, Ozu elides both the wedding ceremony and we only see a few snippets of the fiancee he disapproves of. Why?
The reason is that Ozu is much more interested in the father's internal conflict and the gap between one generation and the next. We see a father who is consistently inconsistent on his feelings about arranged marriage (a Japanese cultural tradition) and romantic marriage. He approves of a friend's daughter who chooses her own mate then alienates his own daughter who does the same.
A key moment comes at the father's high school reunion where a poem about the emperor's armies is recited: "Warriors enter battle for the emperor/cowards suffer everlasting shame". One question is whether the brave thing to do is march into the future and accept the new societal norms or stand-fast with age-old tradition. But the underlying concern is how to maintain contact with children as they built their own families and lives away from their parents.
Early clues to a change in the air include a storm warning at the train station and multiple images of washing (windows, floor waxing). Watch for red objects that appear in the lower right corner of the frame throughout Ozu's coda segments.
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