7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Secrets and deceptions strain the already tenuous relationship of a childless, middle-aged couple, as the wife's city-bred sophistication bumps up against the husband's small-town simplicity, and a generational sea change—in the form of her headstrong, modern niece—sweeps over their household.
Starring: Shin Saburi, Michiyo Kogure, Koji Tsuruta, Chishû Ryû, Chikage AwashimaForeign | 100% |
Drama | 66% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Japanese: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Yasujirô Ozu's "The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice" (1952) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include the director's second sound film, "What Did the Lady Forget?"; exclusive new interview with film scholar David Bordwell; and exclusive new program created by filmmaker Daniel Raim. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Yasujirô Ozu's The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the leaflet that is provided with this Blu-ray release:
"This new 4K digital restoration was undertaken by Shochiku from a 35mm fine-grain positive at IMAGICA Corp in Tokyo. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm optical soundtrack positive at Tokyo Laboratory Ltd.
Restoration supervisor: Shizuo Yamanouchi.
Transfer supervisor: Masashi Chikamori, Takashi Kawamata.
Sound restoration supervisor: Kougi Tanaka."
The film looks a tad softer than it should -- and this is perfectly fine given that the restored master was struck from a fine-grain positive -- but there are also traces of light denoising work that further impact clarity and focus (see screencaptures #5, 8, and 11). In some areas the dynamic range of the visuals becomes shaky as well. As a result, on a larger screen parts of the film can look too flat and/or soft, making depth quite underwhelming. The grading is good, but this is another area where the denoising work has produced small anomalies. (With the most obvious ones the blacks easily overtake some finer gray nuances, and in the process flatten the visuals). Image stability is good, though there are a few uneven transitions. The film looks very clean. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Japanese LPCM 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.
Stability is good. However, if you turn up the volume a bit in some areas you will notice that there is very light buzz/hiss in the high-register. This tells me that time has not been kind to this film because the actual deterioration must have been quite severe. (The audio has been fully restored, so obviously plenty of age-related anomalies were addressed). Nevertheless, the dialog is very easy to follow and the music sounds just fine.
I don't think it is entirely fair to say that the Achilles' heel of The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice is its similarity to Yasujiro Ozu's big classics, but I also have to concede that direct comparisons between them are basically unavoidable -- and they instantly make it look like an inferior film. This being said, I actually quite like the casual manner in which it captures Japanese post-war reality, and I think that with slightly better character arcs it would have been an outstanding film. Criterion's new release is sourced from a recent 4K restoration that was completed in Tokyo, which in all likelihood should have been more convincing. RECOMMENDED.
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