Two boys begin a silence strike to press their parents into buying them a television set.
This movie takes a look at a Westernized suburban area in Japan in the late '50s. It focuses mainly on the daily lives of a small community and the way its members interact. It also demonstrates the power of oral communication and the way in which small talk acts as a lubricant for our daily lives.—<[email protected]>
Adolescent brothers Minoru and Isamu Hayashi live with their parents and aunt in a suburban housing complex on the outskirts of Tokyo. Because of the close quarters within the housing complex, all the neighbors get along well, although gossip does spread quickly amongst the housewives and amongst the men at the bar. Because of the friendly nature of the neighbors, Minoru, Isamu and their two friends, Kôzô and Zennosuke, who also live in the complex, will often go over to one neighbor's house, they who have the only television set in the complex. Despite the boys insistence they get one for their own house, Mr. and Mrs. Hayashi refuse to buy a television, due to the cost and believing it to be the downfall of Japanese society. In an argument with the boys over the issue, Mr. Hayashi accuses the boys of making too much noise while having their tantrum. The boys, in return and in protest, decide to go a "silence" strike, not only against their parents, but also any adult including their aunt, their neighbors and their teachers. This silent treatment causes many misunderstandings, especially among the housewives about some missing money. Will the boys get their way and if so will it be because of their protest? Regardless of the outcome, the process of dealing with the boys assists in drawing two of the adults in the complex together.—Huggo
Two boys beg their parents for a television set, nagging them until all patience is lost. The parents order the boys to be quiet and the boys do exactly that--refusing to utter a word. The boys' silence ultimately puts the whole neighborhood into turmoil.—Jim Beaver <[email protected]>
『お早よう』
Minoru (Koji Shitara) and Isamu (Masahiko Shimazu) are two siblings. They are constantly visiting their neighbour's home to watch TV. The last straw takes place when their mother forbids them to go there with their friend to watch a sumo game finals. The children go to Heiichiro Fukui (Keiji Sada) an unemployed English teacher, for English tutoring. Arita Setsuko (Yoshiko Kuga), their young aunt, offers some extra work for him doing translations.
Also, their mothers are a bit stressed: the money for their quotas and rent seem to have disappeared. After much ado, a lot of hassle and everybody suspecting everybody of being a thief, the money appears in a brown envelope. Kikue Haraguchi (Haruko Sigimura) is thought to have kept the money to buy a washing machine. Although some of the neighbours don't want to believe it, because she's paying for it in instalments, others think it's a clear proof of her guilt. Mrs Okubo (Toyo Takahashi) is the one gossiping about everybody.
Grandma Haraguchi (Eiko Miyoshi) received the envelope without acknowledging what it was and left it aside among the library books. Mother and daughter have a little row about grandma's memory, although she's just scared off a door-to-door salesman, because her daughter feels terrified by them.
Minoru has a quarrel with his father, who accuses him of talking too much. The father feels old, and had a bar conversation with a drunk neighbour Yoshikazu Ookubo, aka Zen (Masuo Fujiki) who has left him feeling lonely and depressed. Minoru and Isamu decide to start a strike of their own to get the longed-for TV set: they will stop talking altogether, both at home and school. Because of that, they stop eating altogether, and they can't even bite a bit of Arita's delicious dessert. They don't even ask their parents for their tea money to eat at school, so one of the teachers has pity on them and buys them something.
Finally, the father decides to buy a TV set, paying in several months. He is the first person who buys something from Zen, who has left retirement to start working as a door-to-door salesman as well. The children can talk again freely.
Tamiko and Heiichiro are clearly in love, but neither of them seems to be able to throw the question. Heiichiro is strongly advised to do it, but the film ends with him make senseless chit-chat with Tamiko about the weather.
