Film Review: The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (1952)

Last week, I watched The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice, a postwar Japanese film directed by Yasujirō Ozu. I enjoyed it so much that I watched it twice, and am already looking forward to seeing it again soon. It’s a gift that keeps on giving; offering more to process, notice, and reflect on with every viewing.

A quick note before we start: Depending on the translation you’re watching, the quotes in this review may vary slightly from the version you’re watching. I’ll include a YouTube link at the end of this post for the version I watched.

The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice introduces us to Taeko and Mokichi Satake, whose marriage has gone stale. Taeko’s become bored of her husband, and resorts to claiming a relative is ill so she can sneak away and go to a hot spring with some friends. While at the hot spring, she compares him to a carp in the pond that’s more sluggish than the others, calling him “Bony McBonehead.” Neither she nor Mokichi put much effort into communicating or making the marriage work, and their interactions are often filled with tension. This is partially due to their class differences: Mokichi comes from a lower-class background and enjoys the simpler things, while Taeko is used to the luxuries of the upper-class life. (Marriage, family, and class are common themes across many of Ozu’s films.)

Meanwhile, Taeko’s niece, Setsuko, is being pushed into an arranged marriage by her parents. Setsuko wants to marry for love instead, but this sentiment fall on deaf ears. She ditches the introductory meeting that was set up for her and her betrothed, and happens upon Noboru, Mokichi’s younger coworker. They end up going out for ramen together in a sweet scene that feels reminiscent of a romcom, sharing some light banter about Setsuko’s predicament and discussing their food, with Noboru explaining the importance of good broth when ordering ramen.

The movie bounces back and forth between the two couples, tending to focus more on Taeko and Mokichi’s, but intersecting at some pivotal moments that help certain characters come to terms with their situation. I appreciate that Ozu respects the cultures of both generations, and that by the end, both relationships are shown to have validity.

It’s indeed not until the end that Taeko and Mokichi are reconciled, but it is well worth the wait. Ozu treats us to a scene that, like the rest of the movie, is breathtaking in its simplicity, and tender without being overly sentimental. There’s no grand gesture; no dramatic kiss in the rain or crackle of fireworks. Rather, it’s the quiet contentment of preparing ochazuke (tea over rice) together as equals, having a conversation, and learning to understand one another, that bring them back together. I won’t go into it in great detail because it’s best experienced firsthand, except to say that I don’t think I’ve seen anything more romantic than a man holding a woman’s shirt sleeves for her so they wouldn’t get wet while she uses the sink. I love the portrayal of a solid relationship as one grounded in comfortability; in reliability.

The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice is a crisp, warm, rainy day movie. Some movies especially feel like they were made to be in black and white; almost as if life was in black and white and the camera was just capturing what it saw. Green Tea Over Rice is one of those. The light that fills the Satake’s home is always so beautiful, and the scenes at the ballgame and the ramen place especially make me want to jump into the screen and live in that world. The way Ozu presents the many different ideas about class, marriage, and family here is much like Mokichi’s description of what marriage should be: “Intimate and primitive, without modesty or propriety… that’s tea over rice. The flavor of it.”

You can watch The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice on YouTube (free with English subtitles). Enjoy!

Keep living vintage,

Becca