235) The Only Son (1936)

235) The Only Son (1936) Dir: Yasujiro Ozu Date Released: April 1987 Date Seen: July 17, 2010 Rating: 4/5

I stumbled into this remarkable melodrama knowing nothing about it except that it was directed by Ozu, a Japanese master whose work I'm woefully still largely unfamiliar with (Mizoguchi and Naruse too). I can remember the recurring images of the looms and the pervasive sense of melancholy that just utterly destroyed me. But other than that, I can't think of much to say about The Only Son other than it really worked me over. Like a feature-length adaptation of The Giving Tree, but even that's a reductive reading, isn't it? I need to see more Ozu; glad I bought the Eclipse box set of three films from his silent period.