Which 1932 Japanese silent comedy-drama was directed by Yasujirō Ozu?
Answer
I Was Born, But...
Which 1932 Japanese silent comedy-drama was directed by Yasujirō Ozu? I Was Born, But... was directed by Yasujirō Ozu.
The silent film centers on two brothers who move with their family to a Tokyo suburb. They admire their father until they see him defer to his employer, forcing them to confront the difference between a child’s idealized view of a parent and the compromises of adult working life.
Released in 1932, the film is a comedy with a serious social edge. Its humor comes from childhood rivalries and neighborhood games, while its deeper subject is status: the boys gradually realize that their father’s position at work is less powerful than they had imagined.
I Was Born, But... was the first of six Ozu films to win the Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film of the Year. Ozu later revisited its family-and-childhood themes in Good Morning, a loose 1959 remake. The title is often printed with an ellipsis, reflecting its Japanese title’s unfinished, conversational quality.