Record of a Tenement Gentleman

Name: Nagaya shinshiroku
Genre: Drama
Released: 1947-05-20
Duration: 1 h 12 min
Rating: 7.7
Cast: Chôko Iida, Hôhi Aoki, Eitarô Ozawa

Original title: Nagaya shinshiroku

19471947
1h 12m

IMDb RATING

7.7/10

YOUR RATING

Drama

A young boy follows Tashiro home to his tenement housing complex on the outskirts of Tokyo, the boy who was separated from his carpenter father somehow and somewhere in Kudan. All Tashiro kn... Read allA young boy follows Tashiro home to his tenement housing complex on the outskirts of Tokyo, the boy who was separated from his carpenter father somehow and somewhere in Kudan. All Tashiro knows is that the boy and his father came to town from Chigasaki that morning. Despite Tashi... Read allA young boy follows Tashiro home to his tenement housing complex on the outskirts of Tokyo, the boy who was separated from his carpenter father somehow and somewhere in Kudan. All Tashiro knows is that the boy and his father came to town from Chigasaki that morning. Despite Tashiro's want to house the kid until they decide what to do more permanently, Tashiro's roomma... Read all

IMDb RATING

7.7/10

YOUR RATING

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Photos13

Chôko Iida in Record of a Tenement Gentleman (1947)

Hôhi Aoki and Chôko Iida in Record of a Tenement Gentleman (1947)

Chôko Iida and Mitsuko Yoshikawa in Record of a Tenement Gentleman (1947)

Chôko Iida and Reikichi Kawamura in Record of a Tenement Gentleman (1947)

Hôhi Aoki in Record of a Tenement Gentleman (1947)

Storyline

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Trivia
This was the first movie made by director Yasujirô Ozu after returning to Japan from his wartime army service abroad. After the surrender, he had been held for half a year in a British POW camp near Singapore, where he had been stationed. Legend has it that he was late in returning to Japan (in February 1946) because, although he was scheduled to be repatriated earlier, another Japanese soldier was desperate to go home, and Ozu let this other man go in his place.

Quotes
Tamekichi: [curious about Tashiro's work, which involves fortunetelling] Does fortunetelling work?
Tashiro: Of course it does. Nothing works better.
Tamekichi: Really? The other day you left home wearing rain boots, but the day turned out to be sunny.
Tashiro: Weather isn't my specialty. The weather forecast on the radio works well for that.

Connections
Featured in The Story of Film: An Odyssey: Birth of the Cinema (2011)

User reviews16

Review

Featured review

8/10

Great Storytelling

Director Yasujiro Ozu has produced a very concise film in "Record of a Tenement Gentleman". The film time is 72 minutes, there are few characters, most of the action takes place in limited interior space, and the dialogue is sparse through much of the film.

A young abandoned boy is grudgingly housed by an older lady who chafes at the burden. She chastises him and calls him "stupid boy". The child doesn't say much. But eventually--due to the human "need" for interaction and interdependence--she learns to tolerate him.

This Ozu film feels different to me from the other two I have watched. It is the post-war era and Ozu manages to find humor in the quirks of individuals. Many characters are untrusting, but we sense a warmth whenever, in this stark reality, someone extends a hand or shares a moment of closeness.

Eventually, this tale of woman and child becomes a larger story about a nation. And a call for that nation to respond dutifully. The final scene is a little oversentimental, but easy to forgive due to the overall quality of the storytelling.

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