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Cinema Ozu (5c): Lost Life of an Office Worker

11: The Life of an Office Worker / Kaisha-in seikatsu (1929)
Status: completely lost
Script: lost

In yet another lost film, Mr.Sakamoto (Tatsuo Saito once again) comes home with great news: he got his semi-annual bonus! Unfortunately, he also lost his job. He doesn't share the second part with his wife. Ozu's second movie in a row dealing with a secret kept from a spouse after I Graduated, But... also dealt with a husband hiding something from his wife out of shame.

Shortly after Sakamoto starts pretending he hasn't lost his job, his pal Okamura (who works for another firm) drops by to offer Sakamoto a job. Mrs. Sakamoto politely turns it down for her husband, since he seems to be doing so well where he is. While he searches for another job, he finds out about scam outfits that exist solely to prey on the unemployed. One of Sakamoto's former coworkers drops by the house to let him know that other pals are trying to get his job reinstated, and Mrs. Sakamoto blows her top. Okamura drops back by coincidentally, re-offers the job, and all is well for husband, wife, and their four bespectacled sons.

The structure and result are strikingly similar to Ozu's last film, but unlike Graduated, the critics seemed to really enjoy this one a great deal. Some may forward the idea that film criticism is "dead", but it's the only reason we know much about various lost films (these included) throughout cinema history.

The critical reaction would indicate that Ozu's immediate return to the salaryman genre was in the interest of getting a "do-over" on I Graduated, But...'s unrealistic, cop-out ending. My personal speculation is that the studio pushed the happy ending of the previous movie on him to satisfy audiences, and this was his shot at doing it his way. The ending still works out for the protagonist, but the luck doesn't just drop out of the sky.

Next week brings another mostly-lost movie about child abduction, a completely lost one about how important trust is in a marriage, and (finally) three fully-preserved features back-to-back. See you Monday.

Cinema Ozu is a limited-run series of articles about the career and impact of Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu. My primary intent is to chronicle my own journey through his films, a fair number of which I have seen, but many more of which I have not. The most essential research tools I have used are David Bordwell's book Ozu and the Poetics of Cinema and definitive Ozu fansite "Ozu-san".

The series is also timed to celebrate the July 2010 U.S. release of The Only Son and There Was a Father as a DVD double-set by The Criterion Collection. You can find all entries in Cinema Ozu here. New to the series? It's best to start from the beginning.