That Night's Wife

Ozu Yasujirō | 1930 | ★★★½
In order to pay for medication for his gravely ill daughter, a desperate father commits armed robbery. However, he fails to make a clean getaway, and is followed back to his modest home by an undercover police officer posing as a taxi driver. Never the less, with the aid of his equally fraught wife, he manages to take the officer hostage, having determined to give himself up once the child was safe. Luckily, the kindly detective proves sympathetic to their plight, making their nightmarish situation just that little bit easier. Affecting performances, striking photography, and unhurried pacing combine to touching effect.