In a succession of shots inside a silk factory showing the long piston-like production lines and the bits and pieces of a mechanical world, the parameters of O-Tsune’s own world become apparent: it is that of an endless toiling so that her son, the young and prepubescent Ryosuke, can finish up his elementary education and they can both live unperturbed in their scrimping and meager existence in the small, homey, rural town of Shinsü. But one evening, while working in the house, O-Tsune hears from her son that he has been asked at school whether he plans to continue with his education, going to high school and from there even…
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A variant of the earlier Late Spring, which features the hallowed and iconic actress, Setsuko Hara, alongside the mainstay of its director, Chishû Ryû, An Autumn Afternoon still has its own unique claim to individuality, and it is no less moving than its predecessor. If I had to choose between them (a difficult choice since both are moving masterpieces) I would watch An Autumn Afternoon, saving Late Spring for a later date; the former is to me more contemplative than the latter, and dissipates more the headlong feeling of the daily rush of life, exemplifying the fine sensibility and artistry of Yasujirô Ozu. This film reaches a pinnacle of the…
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Inaugurating the late period of his creative production, Late Spring bears those hallmarks that were to acquire worldwide renown, the signature of the Japanese master craftsman, Yasujirô Ozu: waist-high static shots above the tatami mat; long takes lingering on the composed resignation of the characters; “pillow shots” as exterior cutaways to the environs; the glacial, deliberate pacing that sees the ineluctable resignation of those that have to confront their fates. The films of Yasujirô Ozu are so substantial because they make no attempts to be what they are not; the conservative quietism characteristic of his films is that of a humane and patient sensibility, convinced that the lives of human…
