Black and White . 88 minutes

Shochiku Ofuna Studio

Written By
Ozu Yasujiro
Ikeda Tadao
Yakao Takao

Cinematography
Atsuta Yuharu

Music By
Saiki Kyoichi

Cast
Ryu Chishu (Horikawa Shuhei)
Sano Shuji (Ryohei)
Tsuda Haruhiko (Ryonei as a child)
Saburi Shin (Kurokawa Yasutaro)
Sakamoto Takeshi (Hirata Makoto)
Mito Mitsuko (Fumi)
Otsuka Masayoshi (Seiichi)
Himori Shinichi (Uchida Minoru)

Synopsis
School teacher and widower Horikawa takes his students on an outing. When one of them drowns accidentally, he feels responsible and resigns. To give his son a good education, he leaves him at a boarding school, while he makes a living alone in Tokyo. Father and son share some brief moments of intimacy together, on a fishing trip or at a hot spring. But most of their lives, they are separated. Even though the grown-up Ryohei offers to live with him in Tokyo, Horikawa admonishes him to fulfill his duty as a teacher in faraway Akita. After a reunion with old students, and arranging a marriage for Ryohei, Horikawa dies at the height of happiness.

Thoughts from Ozu
I think Ryu Chishu has made huge progress since playing the father who runs a tonkatsu (fried porkchop) joint. I wonder where Tsuda Haruhiko who played the son as a boy has gone. I'd really like to meet him once. The story came from a script I wrote a long time ago. I believe that film becomes more subtle and refined as time goes by, so it won't do to take a script from olden days and just use it without making the necessary amendments Even though it was my own creation, I still made change after change, but hopefully it is an improvement on the old version. I was not very prolific during this period at all. Still, as long as I remained in Japan, I would maintain an input of at least one a year. If it weren't for the war, I'm sure there would be at least seven more titles on my filmography.

Personal Thoughts and Comments
There Was A Father is one of only two films Ozu made during the war, yet ironically this may be his most peaceful and quiet film. Just about every film Ozu has made is simplistic in approach, but this may actually be his most simplistic film. There is no direct reference to the war, but rather a deeply sympathetic father-son relationship (in contrast to his more traditional father-daughter relationship) which details the importance of the parent and the separation of family. I'm not sure if the camera ever even moves, and there are some definitive Ozu pillow shots. Ozu regular Chishu Ryu, who starred in almost all of his films, gives yet another brilliant subtle performance.