Late Spring (1949)

The first of Yasujirō Ozu’s great cycle of dramas that place the joys and sadnesses of family life in the context of a Japan disrupted by modernity.

“Is this my favourite of the works of the great minimalist Ozu? You can summarise the plot of Late Spring in a couple of lines: the professor (Chishū Ryū) lives happily with his daughter Noriko; her aunt announces Noriko must marry before she is too old; the professor pretends he will marry so Noriko will not feel guilty about leaving him on his own. She marries. Even this is enough to understand that Ozu’s preoccupation with the precarity of happiness frames his greatest works. Just a glance – the professor’s at Mrs Miwa (Miyake Kuniko) during the Noh performance he attends with Noriko (Hara Setsuko) – is enough for a swirl of connections to run through Noriko’s mind. Ozu, who insisted on working over and over again with the same actors, knows that he need do nothing other than let his camera rest on Hara’s face and the slightest change of expression will tell us more than any words.” Ruth Barton

“I’m always startled when Tokyo Story (1953) gets named the ‘greatest Asian film’ when Ozu himself made one that strikes me as better – briefer, richer and more profoundly moving.” John Powers

“If I could pack Late Spring, Tokyo Story and Good Morning (1959) into one No. 1 spot, I would, but the first is the one I keep coming back to – it seems to hover so closely to the rhythms and regrets of ordinary life.” Ty Burr

“Deeply poignant and tender, yet restrained, dignified, almost stoic, it is narrated in Ozu’s typically minimalist style. Although it is difficult to pick just one from his extraordinary body of work, Late Spring was my first encounter with Ozu.” Nandana Bose

“A search for the balance between the part and the whole, at once profoundly sad and upliftingly heartwarming.” Sam Ho

1949 Japan
Directed by
Yasujirō Ozu
Produced by
Takeshi Yamamoto
Written by
Kogo Noda, Yasujirō Ozu
Featuring
Chishu Ryu, Setsuko Hara, Yumeji Tsukioka
Running time
108 minutes

Ranked in The Greatest Films of All Time poll

Sight and Sound

Who voted for Late Spring

Critics

Mubarak Ali
New Zealand
Ina Archer
USA
Joana Ascensão
Portugal
Ruth Barton
Ireland
Nico Baumbach
USA
Michael Baute
Germany
Alasdair Bayman
UK
Kaushik Bhaumik
India
Moinak Biswas
India
Nandana Bose
India
Hannes Brühwiler
Germany/Switzerland
Ty Burr
USA
Michael Campi
Australia
Adam Cook
Canada
Jesse Cumming
Canada
Anne Demy-Geroe
Australia
Lorenzo Esposito
Italy
John Ewing
USA
Philippe FAUVEL
France
Nora Fiore
USA
Jean-Michel Frodon
France
Ka Ming Fung
Hong Kong
Molly Fusco
USA
Erika Gregor
Germany
Nima Hassani Nasab
Iran
Sandra Hebron
UK
Sam Ho
Hong Kong
Eulàlia Iglesias Huix
Spain
Trevor Johnston
UK
Helmi Kajaste
Finland
Christian Keathley
USA
Nellie Killian
USA
Pauline Kleijer
Netherlands
Robert Koehler
USA
Violeta Kovacsics
Spain
Lars Ole Kristiansen
Norway
James Lattimer
Germany
Anke Leweke
Germany
Manuel J Lombardo
Spain
Phillip Lopate
USA
Gonzalo de Lucas
Spain
Jan Lumholdt
Sweden
Maria João Madeira
Portugal
Gustavo Martín Garzo
Spain
Bob Mastrangelo
USA
Demetrios Matheou
UK
Brian Meacham
USA
Luis Miranda
Spain
Marco Müller
Italy/China
Geoffrey O'Brien
US
Hugo Obregón
Spain
Simon Popek
Slovenia
John Powers
USA
James Quandt
Canada
David Sims
USA
Christopher Small
UK/Czech Republic
Brad Stevens
UK
Chung Sung-Ill
South Korea
Yann Tobin aka N.T.BINH
France
José Luis Torrelavega
Spain
Laura Venning
UK
Noel Vera
Philippines
Tanja Vrvilo
Croatia
K. F. Watanabe
USA
Michael Wedel
Germany
Jon Wengström
Sweden
Patricia White
USA
Madeline Whittle
USA
Michael Wood
USA
Manuel Yáñez-Murillo
Spain

Directors

María Aparicio
Argentina
Natalia Cabral
Dominican Republic
Maya Da-Rin
Brazil
Kōji Fukada
Japan
Sangsoo Hong
South Korea
Amir Naderi
Iran/USA
Arby Ovanessian
France / Iran
Julian Radlmaier
Germany
Charlie Shackleton
UK
Anocha Suwichakornpong
Thailand
James Vaughan
Australia

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