Hogaraka ni ayume

Ozu is one of my top 3 directors and I have just loved all his movies I have seen till now except this one. "I Was Born, But..." which was made just 2 years after this movie was a delightful surprise. It was a comedy/drama centered around kids. Compared with that it feels like it is inspired from western movies. And Ozu's doesn't seems to have a developed a strong style of his own.

Ozu's later movies are very similar in topic to each other. But they are never clichéd. He delights in subverting the genres and breaking the established norms. But "Walk Cheerfully" is very clichéd. Yes, there are few Ozu touches but as such it is not an Ozu movie.

Of course this is just the start of his career. But it just goes to show me that even he made bad movies. This movie is average if you consider the time it was made in. But compared to other Ozu movies it is just awful. I wouldn't recommend this to his fans.