Ozu made many films about intentions of marriage-especially as concerns parents and children-but he made only a few films that centered on husband-wife relations, as tonight's films do. "I wanted to show something about a man from the viewpoint of a woman..." Ozu said of this film, which is a subtle portrait of an unhappy middle-class marriage told through a series of extraordinarily revealing domestic details. The husband is a placid, country-born businessman who marries a woman from a wealthier background. His very stolidity drives his wife to boredom and contempt; she wants to avoid what this life will be-simplicity itself, like the flavor of green tea over rice-and for this he scolds her harshly. Into this painful scene arrives a favorite niece whose romantic optimism stirs the couple into a noble fight for the return of grace and acceptance into their marriage.