Tsuki wa noborinu

It’s late autumn in Nara, a city of many temples that used to be capital of Japan. Widower Mokichi (Chishu Ryu) lives right by a large temple complex together with his three daughters, all of whom marriageable age: widow Chizuru (Hisako Yamane), the middle daughter Ayako, who initially rejects any thoughts of wedlock, and the high-spirited youngest daughter Setsuko (Mie Kitahara). Setsuko has decided to set up Ayako with a shy electrical engineer, which creates some of this comedy’s most amusing scenes. As the set-up already suggests, the film is based on a script by Yasujiro Ozu, to whom Tanaka pays tribute with the low-angle “tatami” shots used at the beginning of the film. (mg)