Late Spring (1949)
Japanโs family portrait.
Presentation:
Late Spring is the first film in Ozuโs family portrait trilogy of the beautiful Noriko, whom would rather take care of her father than marry. The cinematography is just as simple as all of his other films, but if you want minimalist cinema Robert Bresson does a better job. Half of this film feels like fourth wall portrait closeups like you are directly taking to them, but after a while it felt like a boring first date. An invaluable social snapshot of Japanese sentiment after WWII, but one that I personally found boring.
Conclusion:
Iโm not a fan of Japanโs speachy moralizing, but I sometimes do like Ozuโs social commentary like in Tokyo Story. I think you can enjoy and still get the most out of that final film without watching this one first, though if you do it in that order Late Spring could feel lackluster by comparison. Both are tonally similar, but this story is not relevant to me at all compared to the universal impact of the final act. But who knows, when Iโm a widowed father with an only child, I might eat my words.
Recommendations
Japanโs family portrait.