Fresh
One of those silent black-and-white old movies that makes the subsequent advances in the medium look redundant.
A.O. Scott, New York Times
Free account saves your watchlist and ratings.
I Was Born, But...
Overview
Brothers Keiji and Ryoichi move to a new neighborhood in the Tokyo suburbs after their father, an office clerk, is promoted. 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 endures to please his superior. Angry and embarrassed, the boys find their naive ideas about power being challenged.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
100%
Tomatometer
Fresh
[I Was Born, But . . .] is a master class -- one of the [Ozu's] earliest -- in the art of distilling emotional intensity from quiet lives.
Anthony Lane, New Yorker
Fresh
Ozu's movie is also smart at levels almost too subtle to discern, perhaps not so much smart as wise.
Dana Stevens, Slate
Fresh
Watching the first hour of I Was Born, But... (unspooling with a bright, new piano score by Donald Sosin) might remind you of a subdued Our Gang skit, and not unpleasantly.
Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York
Fresh
The film retains a measure of tempered hope, born not simply from the father's command-cum-wish to his slumbering offspring but also from a final act of youthful compassion that binds Ozu's intensely human characters in glass-half-full solidarity.
Nick Schager, Village Voice
More films
Family Weekend (2013)
Comedy · Drama · R
A 16-year-old girl takes her parents hostage after they miss her big jump-roping competition.
- Runtime
- 1h 45m
- Director
- Benjamin Epps
- Cast
- Olesya Rulin, Kristin Chenoweth, Matthew Modine
IMDb
6.2
Rotten Tomatoes
38%
Metacritic
35
The Taste of Tea (2004)
Comedy · Drama · Fantasy · N/A
A spell of time in the life of the five-piece Haruno family in rural Tochigi Prefecture. Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project. Uncle Ayano, a successful music producer, is looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Sachiko is concerned with why she seems to be followe...
- Runtime
- 2h 23m
- Director
- Katsuhito Ishii
- Cast
- Maya Suzuno, Takahiro Sato, Tadanobu Asano
IMDb
7.7
Rotten Tomatoes
100%
Metacritic
77
Kids Return (1996)
Crime · Drama · N/A
Shinji and Masaru spend most of their school days harassing fellow classmates and playing pranks. They drop out and Shinji becomes a small-time boxer, while Masaru joins up with a local yakuza gang. However, the world is a tough place.
- Runtime
- 1h 47m
- Director
- Takeshi Kitano
- Cast
- Masanobu Ando, Ken Kaneko, Leo Morimoto
IMDb
7.6
Rotten Tomatoes
100%
SubUrbia (1997)
Comedy · Drama · R
A group of suburban teenagers try to support each other through the difficult task of becoming adults.
- Runtime
- 2h 1m
- Director
- Richard Linklater
- Cast
- Giovanni Ribisi, Steve Zahn, Amie Carey
IMDb
6.8
Rotten Tomatoes
64%
Metacritic
62
Landline (2017)
Comedy · Drama · R
A teenager living with her sister and parents in Manhattan during the 1990s discovers that her father is having an affair.
- Runtime
- 1h 33m
- Cast
- Jenny Slate, Abby Quinn, Edie Falco
IMDb
6.4
Metacritic
66
The Spectacular Now (2013)
Comedy · Drama · Romance · R
Sutter, a popular party animal, unexpectedly meets the introverted Aimee after waking up on a stranger's lawn. As Sutter deals with the problems in his life and Aimee plans for her future beyond school, an unexpected romance blossoms between them.
- Runtime
- 1h 35m
- Director
- James Ponsoldt
- Cast
- Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Masam Holden
IMDb
7.0
Rotten Tomatoes
92%
Metacritic
82
The Circle (2017)
Drama · Science Fiction · Thriller · PG-13
A young tech worker takes a job at a powerful Internet corporation, quickly rises up the company's ranks, and soon finds herself in a perilous situation concerning privacy, surveillance and freedom. She comes to learn that her decisions and actions will determine the future of humanity.
- Runtime
- 1h 50m
- Director
- James Ponsoldt
- Cast
- Emma Watson, Alicia Vikander, Tom Hanks
IMDb
5.4
Rotten Tomatoes
16%
Metacritic
43
Smashed (2012)
Comedy · Drama · Romance · R
Kate and Charlie like to have a good time. Their marriage thrives on a shared fondness for music, laughter… and getting smashed. When Kate’s partying spirals into hard-core asocial behavior, compromising her job as an elementary schoolteacher, something’s got to give. But change isn’t exactly a cakewalk. Sobriety means she will have to...
- Runtime
- 1h 25m
- Director
- James Ponsoldt
- Cast
- Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Aaron Paul, Octavia Spencer
IMDb
6.7
Rotten Tomatoes
83%
Metacritic
71
Off the Black (2006)
Drama · R
An aging, disillusioned alcoholic gets a younger friend and wants him to pose as his son at a school reunion.
- Runtime
- 1h 30m
- Director
- James Ponsoldt
- Cast
- Nick Nolte, Trevor Morgan, Rosemarie DeWitt
IMDb
6.5
Rotten Tomatoes
65%
Metacritic
62
Comments
Talk about the film with other members