Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth? is a quiet, messy look at adulthood

Is it worth your time?

Honestly, it depends on how much you like sitting with characters who don’t quite know how to handle their own lives. If you’re into the way Ozu films move—slow, deliberate, and deeply obsessed with the small stuff—you’ll probably get a kick out of this. If you need a movie to move like an action flick or have a big, booming climax, you are going to be bored to tears within twenty minutes. 🍵

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth? (1932) through its definitive frames.

The whole premise is pretty simple: guy gets the family business, guy gets lonely, guy hires his buddies to fix the loneliness. It’s a classic setup that usually ends in disaster, but the movie isn't really interested in the 'disaster' part as much as the awkwardness of it all.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth? (1932) through its definitive frames.

Notes from the couch

There’s this one scene where they’re all just sitting around, and the silence is so thick you could cut it with a knife. It goes on for way longer than a modern Hollywood editor would ever let it. It felt less like a movie moment and more like that weird vibe you get when you realize you don’t have anything left to say to your best friend from college.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth? (1932) through its definitive frames.

The performances feel surprisingly lived-in. Chishū Ryū is in this, obviously, and he has this way of looking at a doorway that makes you feel like he’s lived a thousand lives in that one hallway. It’s subtle, maybe too subtle, but it works.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth? (1932) through its definitive frames.

• The office sets look a bit cramped, which is probably the point.
• The dialogue isn't exactly snappy, but it feels like how people actually talk when they’re trying not to say the real thing.
• I kept thinking about how this compares to something like The Heart of a Woman. Both movies deal with the weight of expectations, but this one feels a bit more tired, in a good way.

It’s not a perfect film. Some of the side characters feel like they wandered in from a different movie entirely, and there’s a moment near the middle where the plot just sort of stalls out while everyone drinks tea. I didn't mind it. Sometimes you just want to watch people be indecisive for a while.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth? (1932) through its definitive frames.

The ending isn't some big, life-changing revelation. It’s just kind of... there. It settles in like dust. You walk away feeling a little bit older, which I guess is the whole point of a title like Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth?. It’s not trying to solve your problems, just reminding you that everyone else is just as confused as you are.

Definitely a film for a rainy Sunday, preferably with a cold drink and absolutely no phone nearby. Just don't expect it to fix your life.