Yuriko joins the Mamiya family as newlywed bride of Koichi, the eldest son of widower Shukichi. Koichi soon looses interest in his bouncy wife, however, and lurches into a relationship with a local bar hostess with whom he can indulge more the kinky side of his sexual desire. Because of her resemblance with his dead wife Shukichi also has a crush on Koichi’s lover. Yuriko, in the meantime, helps Koichi’s sexually frustrated younger brother Kazuo who loses his virginity to his sister-in-law.
Little does she know about the causes of Kazuo’s frustrations, that is his feelings for his sister Akiko. Akiko, too, is frustrated with her boring office job, which she quits in order to work at a sex sauna. Things are getting a little awkward when the first client who shows up is her brother Koichi. Between Yuriko and her father-in-law Shukichi, too, a special relationship begins to develop…
When in the late 1970s the Japanese film studios — except Nikkatsu, which in 1971 had switched its production to so-called Roman Porno, in content similar to the independent pink films — stopped hiring new assistant directors it became increasingly difficult for aspiring filmmakers to get a foot into the film business. One alternative presented the pink film industry, which still offered plenty of opportunities for up-and-coming young talents. Among the numerous filmmakers who entered the film world trough pink film was also Suo Masayuki, who eventually became one of the most successful Japanese filmmakers of his generation.
Like the one year older Kurosawa Kiyoshi, who also studied at Rikkyo University and was influenced by Hasumi Shigehiko (author of a famous monograph on Ozu), Suo made his directorial debut in 1983 with a pink film. In his slice of life family portrayal Abnormal Family Suo paid tribute to Ozu Yasujiro, the great master of classical Japanese cinema. Less a parody than an homage to Ozu the film boldly dwells on aspects that in Ozu’s films are at most only hinted at as for instance the potentially erotic relationship between father-in-law and daughter-in-law. The film’s original title Tokyo biyori (“Tokyo Weather”) refers to two of Ozu’s most famous films, Tokyo monogatari (Tokyo Story) and Akibiyori (Late Autumn).