is a 1936 Japanese film directed by

Yasujirō Ozu was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He began his career during the era of silent films, and his last films were made in colour in the early 1960s. Ozu first made a number of short comedies, before turning to more serious themes in t ...

, starring Chōko Iida and Shin'ichi Himori. The film was Ozu's first "

talkie A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

" (sound film) feature.

Plot

The film starts in the rural town of

Shinshū or is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture. Shinano bordered on Echigo, Etchū, Hida, Kai, Kōzuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Tōtōmi Provinces. The ancient capital was located near modern-day Matsumoto, w ...

in 1923. A widow, Tsune (O-Tsune) Nonomiya ( Chōko Iida), works hard at a

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from th ...

production factory to provide for her only son, Ryōsuke. When Ryōsuke's teacher Ōkubo (

Chishū Ryū was a Japanese actor who, in a career lasting 65 years, appeared in over 160 films and about 70 television productions. Early life Ryū was born in Tamamizu Village, Tamana County, a rural area of Kumamoto Prefecture in Kyushu, the most southe ...

) persuades her to let her son continue to study beyond

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

, she decides to support her son's education even until

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

despite her poverty. Her son promises to become a great man. Thirteen years later, in 1936, O-Tsune visits Ryōsuke ( Shin'ichi Himori) in Tokyo. She learns that her son, now a night school teacher, has married and has a son. Her daughter-in-law Sugiko is nice and obliging, but Ryōsuke's job does not pay much. Ryosuke and O-Tsune visit Ōkubo, who is now a father of four and running a ''

tonkatsu is a Japanese dish that consists of a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet. It involves coating slices of pork with panko (bread crumbs), and then frying them in oil. The two main types are fillet and loin. Tonkatsu is also the basis of other ...

'' restaurant. The couple keeps the mother entertained but their money is running out. On a trip to an industrial district one day, Ryōsuke confides in his mother that he wishes he had never come to Tokyo because it's difficult to succeed there, and that he is a disappointment to his mother. O-Tsune chides her son for giving up, telling him she has given up everything to see him succeed. Sugiko sells her

kimono The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right, unless the wearer is deceased. The kimono ...

and raises enough money for the whole family to go out to enjoy themselves. However Tomibo (

Tomio Aoki ''aka'' was a Japanese film actor. Aoki became famous as a child actor after debuting at the age of six in silent films directed by Yasujirō Ozu. His leading role in Ozu's 1929 short comedy ''Tokkan kozo'' gave Aoki his nickname. '' I Was Bo ...

), a neighbor's son, gets injured by a horse and Ryōsuke rushes him to the hospital. There he gives their money to Tomibo's mother to pay the hospital bill. O-Tsune later praises Ryōsuke for his selfless act. O-Tsune eventually returns to Shinshu, but not before giving the couple some money for her grandson. Ryōsuke promises his wife he will obtain a teaching certificate. Back at Shinshū, O-Tsune tells her friend at the factory her son has become a "great man". But as she retires to the back of the factory after work, her face breaks into an expression of deep grief and pain.

Cast

Choko Iida Choko may refer to: *An alternative name for Chayote, a green vegetable of the gourd family * Chokó languages, an alternative name for the Choco languages * Chöko, a Tibeto-Burman language * Choko (cup), a type of sake cup *Choko (game) Choko i ...

as Tsune Nonomiya * Himori Shin'ichi as her son, Ryosuke * Masao Hayama as young Ryosuke * Yoshiko Tsubouchi as Sugiko *

as Okubo-sensei, Ryosuke's teacher * Tomoko Naniwa as Okubo's wife * Bakudan Kozo ( Jun Yokoyama) as their son *

Mitsuko Yoshikawa was a Japanese actress who played in over 250 films, often under the direction of Yasujirō Ozu and Hiroshi Shimizu. She joined the Shochiku film studios in 1924 and gave her film debut in 1926 in ''Kujaku no hikari''. After the war, she becam ...

as Otaka, Ryosuke's neighbour * Tokkan Kozo (

) as her son, Tomibo * Eiko Takamatsu as Oshige

Reception

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

inducted ''The Only Son'' into his

Great Movies ''The Great Movies'' is the name of several publications, both online and in print, from the film critic Roger Ebert. The object was, as Ebert put it, to "make a tour of the landmarks of the first century of cinema." ''The Great Movies'' was pu ...

section, writing of its direction, "I really do feel as if Ozu is looking at his films along with me. He isn't throwing them up on the screen for me to see by myself. Together we look at people trying to please, and often failing, and sometimes redeeming."

Richard Brody Richard Brody (born 1958) is an American film critic who has written for ''The New Yorker'' since 1999. Education Brody grew up in Roslyn, New York, and attended Princeton University, receiving a B.A. in comparative literature in 1980. He firs ...

of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' argued, "Ozu watches with his own stifled fury, as modernity uproots both the best and the worst aspects of tradition."

DVD release

In 2010, the BFI released a Region 2 DVD of the film as a bonus feature on its Dual Format Edition (Blu-ray + DVD) of ''

Late Spring is a 1949 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu and written by Ozu and Kogo Noda, based on the short novel ''Father and Daughter'' (''Chichi to musume'') by the 20th-century novelist and critic Kazuo Hirotsu. The film was written and ...

''.

References

External links

*
Senses of cinema article by James Leahy on the film''The Only Son: Japan, 1936''
an essay by

Tony Rayns Antony Rayns (born 1948) is a British writer, commentator, film festival programmer and screenwriter. He wrote for the underground publication ''Cinema Rising'' (its name inspired by Kenneth Anger's '' Scorpio Rising'') before contributing to ...

at the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cine ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Only Son, The 1936 drama films 1936 films Films about educators Films directed by Yasujirō Ozu Films set in Tokyo Films with screenplays by Tadao Ikeda Japanese black-and-white films Japanese drama films 1930s Japanese-language films Films about mother–son relationships Shochiku films