Late Spring

Late Spring
Original Japanese movie poster
Directed by	Yasujirō Ozu
Produced by	Shochiku Films Ltd.
Written by	Kazuo Hirotsu Kôgo Noda Yasujiro Ozu
Starring	Chishu Ryu Setsuko Hara Haruko Sugimura
Music by	Senji Itô
Cinematography	Yuuharu Atsuta
Distributed by	Shochiku Films Ltd. New Yorker Films
Release date(s)	September 13, 1949 (Japanese release)[1] July 21, 1972 (U.S. release)
Running time	108 min.
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Late Spring (晩春, Banshun^?) is a 1949 black and white Japanese film drama directed by Yasujirō Ozu. Many consider this extremely chaste film between a father and his marriageable daughter his finest achievement. It is based on Father and Daughter by Kazuo Hirotsu.

The story concerns Noriko, who lives happily with her widowed father and seems in no hurry to get married. Her father, a professor, however, wants to see her settled and conspires with his sister to trick Noriko into pursuing an arranged marriage. The film stars Setsuko Hara, in her first of many collaborations with Ozu.

Plot

Professor Shukichi Somiya (Chishu Ryu) has only one child, a twenty-seven-year-old unmarried daughter, Noriko (Setsuko Hara), who takes care of his everyday needs. However, a meeting with his sister Masa (Haruko Sugimura) convinces him that she is now of marriageable age. Noriko is close to his assistant, Hattori (Jun Usami), and Masa asks Somiya to question Noriko if Hattori is interested in her. However it turns out that Hattori already has a fiancée he is about to marry.

A Kyoto friend of Somiya, Professor Onodera, pays a visit to the Somiyas. Noriko learns that Onodera, a widower, has remarried, and she tells Onodera that she finds the idea distasteful - filthy even. Onodera teases her endlessly for harboring such thoughts. Meanwhile, Masa keeps pressurizing Noriko to go for a matchmaking session to see a prospective match who resembles Gary Cooper. Noriko declines, stating that she does not want to marry because of her father. Marrying will leave him alone and helpless. Masa declares that she plans to matchmake her father and Mrs Miwa, a widow, which will mean someone will take care of him.

At a Noh performance, Somiya nods to Mrs Miwa, which triggers a pang of jealousy in Noriko. When her father tries to talk her into going for the matchmaking session, he tells her that he is going to remarry Mrs Miwa. Devastated, Noriko decides to go to see the match. To her surprise, she has pleasant impression of him. Masa talks to her if she will marry. Spurred by thoughts of her father remarrying, Noriko gives in to her aunt and agrees to marry.

The Somiyas go for their last trip together, to Kyoto, where they meet Onodera and his family. Noriko reverses her attitude towards Onodera's remarriage when she finds his new wife a pleasant lady. While packing luggages for their way home, Noriko asks Somiya why can't they stay as they are now – she is happy with her father and marriage certainly can't make her any happier. Somiya gives her a short talk asking her to strive for marital happiness together with her husband, something that will take time and effort. Noriko apologizes for her earlier thoughts and agrees to wed.

Noriko finally leaves on her wedding day. Noriko's divorced friend Aya (Yumeji Tsukioka) stays with Somiya in a bar, long enough to hear him confess his supposed "remarriage" to Mrs Miwa is all a ploy to get Noriko married. Aya is touched by his sacrifice and promises to come and visit him often, but Somiya must go back and face the quiet night all alone in his apartment.

Cast

• Chishu Ryu ... Shukichi Somiya
• Setsuko Hara ... Noriko Somiya
• Yumeji Tsukioka ... Aya Kitagawa
• Haruko Sugimura ... Masa Taguchi
• Hohi Aoki ... Katsuyoshi
• Jun Usami ... Shuichi Hattori
• Kuniko Miyake ... Akiko Miwa
• Masao Mishima ... Jo Onodera
• Yoshiko Tsubouchi ... Kiku
• Yōko Katsuragi ... Misako
• Toyoko Takahashi ... Shige
• Jun Tanizaki ... Seizo Hayashi
• Youko Benisawa ... teahouse proprietress

DVD Release

In 2006, The Criterion Collection released a two-disc set with a restored high-definition digital transfer and new subtitle translations. It also includes Tokyo-Ga, Wim Wenders' Ozu tribute, audio commentary by Richard Peña, and essays by Michael Atkinson and Donald Richie.^[2]

See also

• List of films in the public domain

References

External links

• Late Spring at the Internet Movie Database
• Late Spring at Allmovie
• Rotten Tomatoes Reviews
• Review of Late Spring

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