A middle-aged, middle class couple experience a crisis in their marriage. Although frequently seen as a traditionalist, Ozu's liberalism is often apparent, as here, in the portrayal of the neice's rejection of an arranged marriage. This film is also close to the stream of satiric social comedies in Ozu's oeuvre reflecting the influence of his acknowledged mentor Ernst Lubitsch. Formally the film is notable for Ozu's use of geometric camera movements which form patterns semi-autonomously from the narrative, the last such instance in Ozu's films. Camera movement is virtually absent from his colour films.