Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 2, 2019

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".

The events in the film take place a little over a decade after the end of the war. The economic transformation of Japan is already well underway and it is clear that the country is moving in a new direction.

A former military man named Mokichi (Shin Saburi) has worked hard to make a name for himself in an established corporation that is now looking to expand its business overseas. He is happy with the progress that he has made over the years and all he wants is to preserve his current position, which is well-paid and allows him to live a comfortable life with his family. However, his younger wife, Taeko (Michiyo Kogure), has become frustrated with his outlook on life and quietly started drifting away from him. While in the company of like-minded girlfriends, Taeko has even questioned the strength of her marriage to Mokichi and wondered if her life would have been more satisfying if she had a lover. But the frustration has never been strong enough to produce the courage that Taeko would need to reform her life, which is why she has become very good at inventing excuses to spend even more time with her favorite girlfriends.

Mokichi and Taeko’s niece, Setsuko (Keiko Tsushima), has noticed the gradual deterioration of their relationship and started wondering what her life would be like if she ever married someone that wasn’t right for her, and the more she has been thinking about it, the more determined she has become to reject the arranged marriage that her relatives have been preparing for her. But she has not been able to convince anyone to support her decision, not even Taeko, who under the right circumstances could have been her strongest ally.

Eventually, a series of events bring Mokichi and Taeko closer, and give Setsuko the confidence to defend her decision to choose a partner to start a family with, and in the process the three begin reevaluating what matters the most in their lives.

It is impossible not to compare The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice to the bigger and better-known films in Yasujiro Ozu’s body of work because they share the same key themes -- the evolving nature of family bonds in post-war Japan, the generation gap and its influence on the way the two sexes connect, the rapid industrialization of the country and its impact on traditional cultural values, etc. Also, the management of these themes in The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice is done with the same simplicity, which ultimately shapes up the film’s identity in a similar fashion as well.

So, where does The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice rank exactly?

It is casual but mature film whose story offers a very authentic look at a changing country and people that are beginning to reform their way of life. While avoiding soapy melodrama, Ozu emphasizes the fact that frustration is essentially unavoidable during the transformation but perhaps also healthy because it is what ultimately allows the three main characters to rediscover happiness. So, the message that emerges here actually has a very contemporary resonance, which instantly places the film close to timeless classics like Tokyo Story and Floating Weeds.

The structure of the character arcs is what prevents this film from being identified as one of Ozu’s best. The dramatic buildup, for instance, is often uncharacteristically unfocused and as a result there is quite a bit of footage where it feels like the main characters are left to make the best of it. Also, the tonal shifts of the story, which can also appear uneven, make some personality transformations somewhat unconvincing. This is especially true in the final third of the film where the crucial soul-searching takes place and allows the main characters to rediscover happiness in their lives.

The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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).

The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• What Did the Lady Forget? - presented here is Yasujiro Ozu's second sound film, What Did the Lady Forget, which was completed in 1937. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. Remastered. (72 min, 1080p).

• Ozu & Noda - this new program examines the creative partnership between Yasujiro Ozu and screenwriter Kogo Noda (The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice, An Autumn Afternoon). The program was created by filmmaker Daniel Raim (In Search of Ozu) for Criterion in 2019. In English, not subtitled. (17 min, 1080p).

• David Bordwell - in this new video interview, David Bordwell, author of Ozu and the Poetics of Cinema, discusses some of the key themes and stylistic qualities that define Yasujiro Ozu's work and The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in May 2019. In English, not subtitled. (26 min, 1080p).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring Junji Yoshida's essay "Acquired Tastes" and technical credits.

The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.