To commemorate 100 years since Yasujiro Ozu's birth, Hou's Tokyo story is one that shows the Japanese director was clearly an influential figure in the Taiwanese director's love of cinema. Though while “Café Lumière” features many themes seen throughout Ozu's oeuvre, this is very much a work of Hou.
Much like Hou himself, Yoko (played by Taiwanese-Japanese Yo Hitoto) is visiting Tokyo from Taiwan to research a musician, seeking a café that he used to frequent in the capital. Pregnant by her Taiwanese boyfriend, this causes conflict with her strict, rural father, who feels out of place in the city and with his daughter. In true Ozu style, this is low on plot, with changing family dynamics and female empowerment key themes, with Yoko indifferent to her family and boyfriend's opinions on her pregnancy. She is happy to go it alone. Trains, another Ozu staple, run in the veins of this film, as they do in the city, with lingering shots of the transport slowly passing by, with some gorgeous cinematography from Ping Bin-lee.
But Hou asks the audience to be detached observers, rather than part of the family, as Ozu would have it. This is sparse on conversation, unlike Ozu's dialogue-heavy work, and can almost become victim of its own lack of dynamism. This is stoic, rather than with a humorous smile. But it is a love letter to the city as much as anything, showing it in its modern, urbane glory/ugliness. Ping's camera captures homelife in a way reminiscent of the Japanese's work, with low cameras showing the cramped apartment where Yoko sometimes lives.
Reading it as an Ozu tribute hangs over the film, and so requires context; done in a more subtle way. Standalone, it is a slow-paced piece that doesn't go very far. But as a homage, it is full of little Easter eggs to amuse those in the know, and shows influence does not mean copying, more borrowing sake from one's neighbour.
