An Inn in Tokyo

Yasujirō Ozu's 1935 Japanese film follows an unemployed man looking for work with his two sons in the industrial flatlands of Tokyo. The three wander the empty ground, stay in cheap inns, and every job the father finds is brief. The film is among the last of Ozu's silent period and shows directly what the Depression meant in Japan. The question at its centre is at what point poverty forces a person into a moral choice: the man has to find money for a sick child. Ozu's framing is distinctive even this early. The child actors are natural. The ending is harsh. Who it's for: viewers interested in Ozu's early period and Japanese silent cinema. Who it's not for: anyone wanting incident, or who finds silent films hard going.