Two brothers, Keiji (Tomio Aoki) and Ryoichi (Hideo Sugawara), move to a new neighborhood in the Tokyo suburbs after their father, an office clerk, gets a promotion. The boys join the local gang as lowly new kids and emerge as natural leaders after defeating a bully. While visiting the home of their father’s boss, the brothers witness the ridicule their father has endured to please his superior. Angry and embarrassed, the boys find their naive ideas about power being challenged.

One of Ozu’s most popular films, I Was Born, But . . . is a blithe portrait of the financial and psychological toils of one family, as told from the rascally point of view of a couple of stubborn little boys. For two brothers, the daily struggles of bullies and mean teachers is nothing next to the mortification they feel when they realize their good-natured father’s low-rung social status. Reworked decades later as Ozu’s Technicolor comedy Good Morning, it’s a poignant evocation of the tumult of childhood, as well as a showcase for Ozu’s expertly timed comedy editing.

(This is a Silent Film.)