What Did the Lady Forget?

Shukujo wa nani o wasureta ka
What Did the Lady Forget?
Directed by Yasujirō Ozu
Written by Akira Fushimi
Yasujirō Ozu (as James Maki)
Starring Tatsuo Saitō
Sumiko Kurishima
Michiko Kuwano
Music by Senji Itō
Cinematography Yuuharu Atsuta
Hideo Shigehara
Edited by Kenkichi Hara
Distributed by Shochiku
Release date
  • 1937 (1937)
Running time
 71 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese

What Did the Lady Forget? (淑女は何を忘れたか, Shukujo wa nani wo wasureta ka) is a 1937 Japanese film directed by Yasujirō Ozu.

Plot

Komiya (Tatsuo Saito) is an affluent, respected and good-natured professor of medicine at a Tokyo university. He has a wife, Tokiko (Sumiko Kurishima), though they are without children. His niece from Osaka, Setsuko (Michiko Kuwano) comes recently for a visit to Tokyo. A liberated young lady who smokes and drinks, Setsuko finds her aunt Tokiko's interference and control of her habits bossy and annoying.

Tokiko gets her husband to go for his usual weekend golfing trip, though Komiya is not keen to go. So as not to vex his wife, Komiya leaves anyway, and writes a postcard telling his wife the weather and the golfing trip was fine, but instead holes himself up at the residence of his student, Okada, and visits a Ginza bar. Unfortunately the weather turns bad later, and Komiya worries about his lie being exposed. Meanwhile, Setsuko tails her uncle and insists on Komiya bringing her to visit geishas in Tokyo. She comes back after midnight to her uncle's house very drunk, which incurs her aunt's deep displeasure.

Komiya returns from his "trip" and Tokiko gets him to lecture Setsuko about her behavior. Instead, behind his wife's back, Komiya tries to get Setsuko to intercept the offending postcard. Unfortunately Setsuko fails in her task, and Komiya gets to read the card and know all about his untruthfulness. She loses her temper before the two, who leave to prevent any more friction. At a bar, Setsuko lectures her uncle for being too henpecked and ask him to be more unruly to discipline his wife so that she does not become overbearing. The two return home, just to meet a fuming Tokiko who is angry at the two for going for a drink. Unable to hold back any longer, Komiya slaps his wife. Later, Setsuko apologizes to her for causing trouble. Komiya too goes to Tokiko to apologize.

Komiya later explains to his niece in private that a man must sometimes take the "soft" approach when dealing with a woman. The married couple soon make up and Tokiko seems even charmed by her husband's new-found "manliness". Meanwhile, Setsuko is leaving Tokyo. In a date with Okada, Komiya's student, she negotiates how they will treat each other if they settle down and get married.

Cast

DVD Release

In 2010, the BFI released a Region 2 DVD of the film as a bonus feature on its Dual Format Edition (Blu-ray + DVD) of Early Summer.[1]

References

  1. ↑ "BFI Filmstore Japan". Filmstore.bfi.org.uk. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
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