Alicia I love this movie so much

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Murphy Howard I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

thinbeach Like many Ozu films, 'Passing Fancy' is about the difficulties of father-son relationships, set in a small Japanese town, mostly passing with the intimate indoor conversations of characters, which framed in a certain way manages to reveal great depth. In this particular instance, in a one room house with few furnishings and damaged walls, the father and son are very poor, but the arrival of an unknown young female to the town sparks a love interest. It's a pity a film with so much great dialogue is silent, but the technology may not have been available to them at the time in Japan, and once you get used to the rhythm (which only takes a scene or two) it is not something that bothers you. Kihachi is a loveable fool, who smiles and charms easily, but drinks excessively, skips work often, and slowly reveals a raw unattractive side with insensitivity towards his son. You will cheer him on one minute, and despise him the next. It's a film about the difficulties of money, but even more so about responsibility - of being a father, educating our children well, and in the way we conduct relationships.Ozu films are always associated with home and family and friends but the strong feelings he generates seem rarely to dip into sentimentality. Often it is the small details that stand out - holding that frame of the suburban background just an extra second or two after after the character exits - a small touch, but one that allows time for reflection. Or in the scene where the child slaps the father, how he scrunches up his pants before doing so, the tiniest gesture to reveal he has doubts or concerns about doing it. Ozu trusts the tiny details - blink and you'll miss them - to reveal the big, which makes his films feel both humble and meaningful at the same time. They are wise, not showy.The third act and particularly the very end is the only part of this film melodramatic enough to feel written for a movie, but it redeems itself by rounding off a great joke and finishing as it began - with a dose of humour amid an otherwise dramatic tale.

crossbow0106 Ozu has often used the theme of father and son relationships in his films and here he explores a little more besides. Beyond the relationship of Kihachi the father and Tomio the young son you get the widower Kihachi trying to become closer to the pretty, much younger Harue. This silent film speaks volumes about family, about hopes but it is Ozu's light comic touch which makes it another great film of his. It is completely silent but it is compelling, actually a story that could be retold and remade in any corner of the globe. The acting is just about universally good and the film has a lot of heart attached to its sometimes ordinary theme. Then again, Ozu has always made extraordinary out of the ordinary. Here is another example of the master at work.

MartinHafer Yasujiro Ozu is an extremely well respected film director. While not as famous today as his countryman, Kurosawa, among those who are fans of Japanese cinema, he is practically a god. While I have loved many of his films due to their amazing artistry and great direction, I also think that overall, many of his films are a tad overrated. In other words, because SOME films are near-perfect classics (such as both versions of FLOATING WEEDS or my favorite, LATE SPRING), people often tend to see ALL of his films as having the same quality. This is true of all the great directors, as there are a devoted group of followers that see every film as great--even if the films have obvious flaws or were made before the directors learned and perfected their craft.I mention all this because although PASSING FANCY is a very good film, it's far from great--despite some amazingly positive reviews. While it's true that the Japanese film industry didn't switch to sound until very, very late compared to Western countries, shouldn't this be considered when giving out 10s to these silents? In other words, shouldn't technical merit be considered when reviewing a film? As such, I'd have to knock a point off the film. In addition, the film's plot is amazingly scant and a bit too ordinary.Now in Ozu's defense, I must say that when it comes to the ordinary, nobody does it better. Here we have the story of a hard-drinking blue collar man and his young son and there's not a lot of excitement or action...but it STILL engages the audience due to his nice touch and excellent acting. In addition, the ending is very sweet and well done--even if nothing is exactly resolved in this story of very mundane individuals.Well done and worth seeing but not exactly magical.

Michael Kerpan (kerpan) Dekigokoro (Passing Fancy), is one of Ozu's 3 masterpieces from 1933. It stars the second of cinematic Ozu's "alter egos", Takeshi Sakamoto. Sakamoto typically plays a down and out working class father. Here, he is especially dense, to excellent comic effect. Tomio Aoki (in probably his most significant child role) plays a kid who seems to be considerably brighter than his father -- and who does more to keep the household running. Aoki is (of course) quite funny. But he also does an excellent job of showing a child's response to unwanted change. He and his father have long depended solely on each other -- but now his father has his eye on a young woman who has moved into their slum neighborhood. Aoki very much resents his father's interest in the woman -- and resists her attempts to win his affections.This is an extremely visual film, with lots of completely "wordless" humor. The film starts out with an extended scene in a music hall (Chishu Ryu performing as the "singer") in which first a lost wallet circulates, and then a flea (or fleas). Probably not as great a family drama as the prior "I Was Born But" or the subsequent "Tokyo Inn", but nonetheless quite enjoyable.