This film starkly depicts both rural and urban poverty in depression-era Japan. It examines the impact that the national delusion that "education will allow everyone to get ahead" had on the lives of ordinary people. He shows that, in reality, people found that getting an education got them "nowhere". The film does not deal with abstractions, but real people, who face individualized dilemmas. The performances are exceptional, especially that of Choko Iida -- as a mother who gives up everything to let her only son pursue higher education -- only to find that her son is mired in near-poverty, instead of being a big success in Tokyo.
Review of The Only Son
