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There Was a Father
Directed by
Yasujirō Ozu
Not Rated
1942
1h 33m
Drama
7.5
100%
82%
7.0
Add to Watchlist
A schoolteacher struggles to raise his son Ryohei by himself, having neither money nor future prospects.
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Where to Watch There Was a Father
Criterion Channel
Subscription
Cast of There Was a Father
Chishū Ryū
Shuhei Horikawa
Shūji Sano
Ryohei Horikawa
Haruhiko Tsuda
Young Ryohei
Shin Saburi
Yasutaro Kurokawa
Takeshi Sakamoto
Makoto Hirata
Mitsuko Mito
Fumi
Shinichi Himori
Minoru Uchida
Seiji Nishimura
Priest
Reikō Tani
Teacher of Chinese Literature
Kanji Kawara
Teacher of Junior High School
Yûsuke Kurata
Teacher of Junior High School
Kenichi Miyajima
Company Employee
Chiyoko Fumiya
Maid
Shin'yō Nara
Doctor
Kenji Oyama
Graduate
Kōji Mitsui
Graduate
Teruo Kirasagi
Graduate
Katsumi Kubota
Graduate
Morihiko Kezuka
Photographer
Shoichi Kofujita
Tohoku Industrial Student
There Was a Father Ratings & Reviews
Psychocinematography
Pieter-Jan Van Haecke
There Was A Father is a quintessential Ozu narrative that, despite its age, still succeeds in engaging the spectator.
Asian Movie Pulse
Panos Kotzathanasis
Although relatively omitted from Ozu's filmography, perhaps for its intensely doctrine messages, "There Was a Father" is another great sample of his directorial abilities and an overall great film.
The New Yorker
Richard Brody
Within the framework of the aching melodrama the director daringly highlights the weight of tradition and duty that crushes the individual spirit.
Q Network Film Desk
James Kendrick
a poignant, even tragic portrait of the nature of sacrifice
Combustible Celluloid
Jeffrey M. Anderson
An almost unwittingly political, (unusual for Ozu) as well as artistic, triumph.
Chicago Reader
Don Druker
A delicate, straightforward exhortation to duty and sacrifice, presented with both humor and a kind of unforced serenity.
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
Dennis Schwartz
Ozu's most Buddhist, didactic, Japanese and patriarchal film.
Turner Classic Movies Online
Sean Axmaker
If There Was a Father celebrates obedience as a virtue and duty the highest calling on the surface, there is an ambiguity in Ozu's tone.
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