Good Morning (1959)

We are coming down the homestretch in the A-to-Z Part Deux challenge. This week we’ve got the letter “T” and with it Toshirô Mayuzumi (Composer). The movie that Toshirô composed that we’re looking at today is…Good Morning (1959).

Title: Good Morning

Director: Yasujirô Ozu

Released: May 12, 1959 (Japan)

Runtime: 1 hour 34 minutes

Available to stream on: Tubi, Max, and The Criterion Channel

Isamu (Masahiko Shimazu) and Minoru (Kôji Shitara) Hayashi love their sumo wrestling. Unfortunately for them, their parents refuse to buy a television set for their home. So, Isamu and Minoru frequently visit their neighbor’s home in order to watch tv. There’s only one problem, their mother, Tamiko (Kuniko Miyake), forbids them from going over there again because she believes the mother is a cabaret dancer.

Meanwhile, all of the mothers in the neighborhood are a bit on edge. The money collected for their women’s club monthly dues is missing. Fingers are pointed as to who the culprit could be and relationships amongst the club members become strained.

While all of this is happening, Mr. Hayashi (Chishû Ryû) and Minoru have a quarrel that sees Mr. Hayashi tell Minoru that he talks too much. While in their room together, Minoru and Isamu agree that they will go on a silent strike and refuse to speak until their home has a television set. The first to feel the impact of the silent strike is Mrs. Haraguchi (Haruko Sugimura). She believes that Mrs. Hayashi is having her boys disrespect her as a result of a misunderstanding regarding the monthly dues.

How far will Minoru and Isamu take their silent strike?

Will it end the way they’re hoping?

Well, this was an interesting watch.

We are given a very simple plot that gives a glimpse into life in suburbia in this Japanese neighborhood. It’s also very easy to draw comparisons to life in suburbia just about anywhere else in the world. This allows the viewer to relate to and/or see themselves in at least one of the characters that we encounter.

The acting was good overall; however, Masahiko Shimazu as Isamu stole the show for me. His comedic timing was on-point in every scene that called for it.

Speaking of comedic timing, can we talk about the flatulence? The whole town needs to address whatever in their diet is causing them to be so gassy. Now I know, it’s easy to point to fart jokes and say that they’re used to capture a sense childhood innocence. But there was also a lesson learned: Never trust a fart.

Good Morning (1959) is cute, funny, and a brisk ninety-four minutes. This was the first movie of Yasujirô Ozu’s that I’ve seen but probably won’t be the last. If you’ve yet to see it, it gets a recommend from me.

Well, now it’s your turn. If you’ve seen Good Morning (1959), tell me what you thought of it in the comments below or by reaching out on social media!

Keep track of what else I’m watching on Letterboxd.

Wednesday on Bluesky, Threads, and Instagram I’ll be posting who the crew member will be for the letter “U” and which movie they worked on that we’ll be reviewing next week.