How Ozu lingers on certain aspects of life, taking a moment to appreciate moments like rain falling into a teacup, is suited well by the medium of silent cinema. The heavy reliance on dialogue, here intertitles, does not serve the movie well however. A melancholic story that just misses the mark for me, high hopes for Ozu's own remake near the end of his life.

Nice but I prefer 1959 version.

For all you NOIR lovers out there: Know that time when you say "Man, if I hear one more person say 'baby' or 'see', I will Wake Up Screaming (1941)? (sorry for the bad film pun) And you just wanna watch something else but you still want a little of that noir flavor...well, this is just the movie for you...black and white, seedy surroundings, some bitch slapping, and great lines (after one girl got hers) "Are you sorry? I hope you'll be very sorry. The world is like a lottery. You take your ups and downs."