Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £4.99 a month

Equinox Flower
Ozu's deft comedy takes an ironic look at the decline of paternal authority.
Comedy 1958 118 mins
Director: Yasujirō Ozu
Overview
Yasujiro Ozu's first colour film, Equinox Flower is a deft comedy that takes an ironic look at the decline of paternal authority. Shin Saburi plays Wataru Hirayama, an old-fashioned father whose outwardly liberal views on marriage are severely tested when his daughter tells him she wants a love-match. Outwitted and outflanked by his wily female relatives Hirayama stubbornly refuses to admit defeat. The director's playful use of colour, poetry and arch humour combine to make this tale of old versus new at once deeply moving and razor-sharp.

Related
Comedy

The Square The Square
Comedy 2017 151 mins Director: Ruben Östlund
From director Ruben Östlund (Force Majeure) comes a satire on the hypocrisy of the art world, starring Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss and Dominic West. Winner of the Palme d'Or.

Who Loves the Sun Who Loves the Sun
Comedy 2006 94 mins Director: Matt Bissonnette
Lukas Haas and Adam Scott play two old friends with a tempestuous history in this delightfully witty character comedy.

Cold Weather Cold Weather
Comedy 2009 96 mins Director: Aaron Katz
An amateur sleuth investigates his ex-girlfriend's disappearance in Aaron Katz's mumblecore take on the detective mystery.

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
Comedy 2021 106 mins Director: Radu Jude
Berlin Golden Bear winner, Radu Jude’s scathing satire finds schoolteacher Emi threatened with dismissal when a private sex tape goes viral.

Sweetheart Sweetheart
Comedy 2021 103 mins Director: Marley Morrison
AJ discovers it’s not so bad being on a family holiday when she meets flirtatious lifeguard Isla in this smart and funny first feature.

Wild Tales Wild Tales
Comedy 2014 122 mins Director: Damian Szifron
This Oscar-nominated, Almodóvar-produced anthology of six tales of ordinary madness is the most riotously enjoyable portmanteau film since Pulp Fiction.
Japan 2021

Seven Samurai Seven Samurai
Drama 1954 207 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
Farmers hire a band of samurai to defend them against marauding bandits in Kurosawa’s influential epic, a touchstone for action movies ever since.

Ran Ran
Drama 1985 154 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa’s visually spectacular epic transplants Shakespeare’s King Lear from Celtic Britain to feudal Japan.

Rashomon Rashomon
Crime 1950 88 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
Credited with bringing Japanese cinema to worldwide audiences, Akira Kurosawa’s breakthrough tells the story of a murder in the woods from four differing perspectives.

Tokyo Story Tokyo Story
Drama 1953 136 mins Director: Yasujirō Ozu
A constant fixture in critics' polls, Yasujiro Ozu's most enduring masterpiece is a beautifully nuanced exploration of filial duty, expectation and regret.

Late Autumn Late Autumn
Drama 1960 128 mins Director: Yasujirō Ozu
Comedy turns to pathos in Yasujiro Ozu's tale of a group of businessmen who conspire to match-make for a widow and her daughter.

After Life After Life
Drama 1998 119 mins Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Koreeda's lyrical fantasy challenges the viewer to reflect on the experiences that most make life worth living.
Featuring Kinuyo Tanaka

Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth? Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth?
Comedy 1932 86 mins Silent Director: Yasujirō Ozu
Ozu’s long-term collaborator Kogo Noda scripts a subtle shift from light to dark as Hirano’s carefree college life is marred by tragedy.
A Hen in the Wind A Hen in the Wind
Drama 1948 84 mins Director: Yasujirō Ozu
In a Japan recently devastated by World War II a devoted, near-destitute mother turns to prostitution to pay medical bills when her son falls dangerously ill.

Woman of Tokyo Woman of Tokyo
Melodrama 1933 45 mins Silent Director: Yasujirō Ozu
Chikako (Yoshiko Okada) works hard to pay her brothers Ryoichi’s (Ureo Egawa) college fees, but disaster looms when he learns the true nature of her work.
I Flunked, But… I Flunked, But…
Comedy 1930 64 mins Silent Director: Yasujirō Ozu
Takahashi finds a creative way to avoid doing his revision in Ozu's roguish comedy, reminiscent of Harold Lloyd’s The Freshman.

Dragnet Girl Dragnet Girl
Crime 1933 100 mins Silent Director: Yasujirō Ozu
A seemingly ordinary typist moonlights as a fun-loving gangster's moll in one of Ozu's most enduring silent films.
Directed by Yasujirō Ozu

An Autumn Afternoon An Autumn Afternoon
Drama 1962 113 mins Director: Yasujirō Ozu
Yasujiro Ozu's elegiac final film charts the inevitable eclipse of older generations by irreverent youth.

Tokyo Story Tokyo Story
Drama 1953 136 mins Director: Yasujirō Ozu
A constant fixture in critics' polls, Yasujiro Ozu's most enduring masterpiece is a beautifully nuanced exploration of filial duty, expectation and regret.

Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth? Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth?
Comedy 1932 86 mins Silent Director: Yasujirō Ozu
Ozu’s long-term collaborator Kogo Noda scripts a subtle shift from light to dark as Hirano’s carefree college life is marred by tragedy.
A Hen in the Wind A Hen in the Wind
Drama 1948 84 mins Director: Yasujirō Ozu
In a Japan recently devastated by World War II a devoted, near-destitute mother turns to prostitution to pay medical bills when her son falls dangerously ill.
I Flunked, But… I Flunked, But…
Comedy 1930 64 mins Silent Director: Yasujirō Ozu
Takahashi finds a creative way to avoid doing his revision in Ozu's roguish comedy, reminiscent of Harold Lloyd’s The Freshman.

Good Morning Good Morning
Comedy 1959 94 mins Director: Yasujirō Ozu
Yasujiro Ozu's cheerful comedy about the silliness of everyday chatter
New

Tony Takitani Tony Takitani
Drama 2004 76 mins Director: Jun Ichikawa
Award-winning film adapted from Haruki Murakami’s New Yorker tale of solitude and obsession.

Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story
Documentary 2018 101 mins Director: Steve Sullivan
Frank Sidebottom was a pillar of alternative comedy of the late 80s/early 90s, and this charming documentary remembers the man behind the papier-mâché head.

Ava Ava
Drama 2017 103 mins Director: Sadaf Foroughi
Sadaf Foroughi's gripping debut about a young girl's coming-of-age in a strict, traditional society.

Hive Hive
Drama 2020 84 mins Director: Blerta Basholli
Director Blerta Basholli’s feature debut is a moving story of resilience and hope.

Charlatan Charlatan
Drama 2020 118 mins Director: Agnieszka Holland
Agnieszka Holland’s fascinating biopic of Jan Mikolášek, a 20th century Czech herbalist whose great success masked the grimmest of secrets.

Polisse Polisse
Police drama 2011 128 mins Director: Maïwenn Le Besco
Brutal, shocking and incredibly powerful, this close-up examination of the workings of a child protection police unit in Paris is hard-hitting and heart-stopping cinema.