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Yasujiro Ozu’s The Flavour of Green Tea over Rice available on Blu-ray and VOD on 18 May

Yasujirô Ozu's films use minimalist storytelling and an emphasis on character to paint a portrait of family life and the relationships between the generations.Made the year before his career defining masterpiece “Tokyo Story” (which will be released on Blu-ray by the on 15 June) “” is one of Yasujirô Ozu's most beautiful domestic sagas, a subtly piercing portrait of a marriage coming quietly undone.

Secrets and deceptions strain the already tenuous relationship of a childless, middle aged couple, as the wife's city bred sophistication clashes with the husband's small town simplicity, and a generational sea change in the form of their headstrong, modern niece sweeps over their household. Ozu's expert grasp of family dynamics receives one of its most spirited treatments, with a wry, tender humour and an expansiveness that moves the action from the home, to the baseball stadiums and the shops of post-war Tokyo.

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Special features

Re-mastered at 4K and presented in High Definition for the first time in the UK

Feature-length audio commentary by critic and Asian-cinema expert Tony Rayns

Alternative unrestored audio track

The Mystery of Marriage (1932, 34 mins): educational filmmaker and pioneering female director Mary Field draws peculiar and poignant parallels between the mating rituals of humans, animals and mould in this eccentric, entertaining educational film

The Good Housewife ‘In Her Kitchen' (1949, 9 mins): the fourth wall is shattered in this imaginative public information film, filled with good advice for kitchen users – whether they have a refrigerator or not

*** First pressing only*** Illustrated booklet with an extended archival essay by Tom Milne, notes on the special features and credits

About the author

Rouven Linnarz

Ever since I watched Takeshi Kitano's "Hana-Bi" for the first time (and many times after that) I have been a cinephile. While much can be said about the technical aspects of film, coming from a small town in Germany, I cherish the notion of art showing its audience something which one does normally avoid, neglect or is unable to see for many different reasons. Often the stories told in films have helped me understand, discover and connect to something new which is a concept I would like to convey in the way I talk and write about films. Thus, I try to include some info on the background of each film as well as a short analysis (without spoilers, of course), an approach which should reflect the context of a work of art no matter what genre, director or cast. In the end, I hope to pass on my joy of watching film and talking about it.

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