Late Spring

1949 [JAPANESE]

Action / Comedy / Drama

33
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 92% · 25 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 92% · 5K ratings
IMDb Rating 8.2/10 10 21267 21.3K

black and white post world war ii serene shōwa era (1926-89)

Plot summary

Noriko is perfectly happy living at home with her widowed father, Shukichi, and has no plans to marry -- that is, until her aunt Masa convinces Shukichi that unless he marries off his 27-year-old daughter soon, she will likely remain alone for the rest of her life. When Noriko resists Masa's matchmaking, Shukichi is forced to deceive his daughter and sacrifice his own happiness to do what he believes is right.

Director

Yasujirô Ozu Photo
Yasujirô Ozu

Top cast

Setsuko Hara Photo
Setsuko Hara as Noriko Somiya
Chishû Ryû Photo
Chishû Ryû as Shukichi Somiya
Yoshiko Tsubouchi Photo
Yoshiko Tsubouchi as Kiku
Jun Usami Photo
Jun Usami as Shôichi Hattori
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
884.99 MB
988*720
Japanese 2.0
NR
Subtitles jp  
23.976 fps
1 hr 50 min
Seeds 3
1.71 GB
1472*1072
Japanese 2.0
NR
Subtitles jp  
23.976 fps
1 hr 50 min
Seeds 39

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by claudio_carvalho 8 / 10

Father and Daughter Relationship in the Traditional Japan

In the post-WWII Japan, the twenty-seven year-old Noriko Somiya (Setsuko Hara) lives a simple but happy life with her fifty-seven year-old widower father, the college professor Shukichi Somiya (Chishu Ryu) in the suburb of Tokyo. Noriko has recovered from a disease she had during the war, and her aunt Masa Taguchi (Haruko Sugimura) and her friend Aya Kitagawa (Yumeji Tsukioka) press her to get married. However, Noriko would rather stay single and taking care of her beloved father. When Masa finds a promising fiancé to Noriko, she tells that her father will remarry sooner, forcing the reluctant Noriko to take a decision."Banshun" is another wonderful movie of the Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu about his favorite theme: family and human relationship. Ozu discloses through a very simple storyline, the relationship of a widowed father and his mature daughter and the need of a woman to get married with an arranged marriage as a natural order of life in the traditional Japan, a beautiful and touching story, supported by awesome performances and using a magnificent camera work, with symmetrically framed images and unusual angles. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Pai e Filha" ("Father and Daughter")
Reviewed by ccamp89 9 / 10

Powerful and Penetrating

After having seen and loving Tokyo Story, a film which is widely considered to be not only master Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu's best film, but also one of the greatest films ever made, I was very eager to see more. Many consider Late Spring another of his absolute best works, and I can happily say that it most definitely met my very high expectations. As with Tokyo Story, this a deep, masterfully-executed and penetrating film examining family life in Japan and the societal and generational pressures which shape it.As with Tokyo Story, we enter this tale of father, Shukichi Somiya, and daughter, Noriko Somiya, in the middle. 27-year-old Noriko lives together with her father and they appear to be very close. Naturally, questions begin to arise in the mind of the viewer: where is Noriko's mother and why hasn't she ever married? Ozu does a fantastic job of coaxing these questions out in the film's early stages and gives us hints at what has transpired, but never spoon- feeds us by explicitly explaining the backstory. We learn that Noriko had been seriously ill at one point during a period of war and hardship, but has since recovered. Her mother is a mystery for much of the film, but it slowly becomes clear that she has died and that Shukichi is a widower. With this context, the film examines the father-daughter relationship between Noriko and Shukichi and the pressures on them both to have Noriko finally marry and "leave the nest", so to speak.The strength of this film (and Tokyo Story alike) is how subtly and effectively it tells this story. The screenplay and pacing of the film are phenomenal in slowly and carefully peeling back the layers of the family dynamic. Throughout the film we question the actions and underlying motivations of each of the characters. By the end, the full vision snaps into focus and we are left with a melancholy ending that really sneaks up and packs quite an emotional punch.Let's begin with Noriko. For the length of the movie she is adamantly against marriage, especially re-marriage. As the details of the backstory filter in, her reasoning begins to become clear. Noriko lost her mother which has obviously affected her very much. As a result, she is very close with her father and wary of leaving him behind. Her mother's death obviously must have been very hard for her father as well, and she references the fact that he needs her to take care of him. She feels that she must be there for him because she fears he may be lonely if she leaves and won't be able to cope as a widower. She is also understandably protective of her father – she is afraid to lose him like she did her mother. Thus, she can't bear the thought of him ever remarrying which, in her mind, could potentially jeopardize their relationship. As the film progresses though, pressures on Noriko to get married come from all sides – her aunt, father, and best friend (and ironically, divorcée) all urging her that she must take this long overdue and necessary step. To her, the relationship she has with her father is more than enough and brings her contentment. However, she is made to feel like she is being selfish in staying home with him, especially when it is suggested that he wishes to remarry. Thus, she eventually gives into these pressures and marries at the end of the film, but is clearly devastated and unhappy with her choice.Shukichi can be analyzed in the same way. He seems to be very happy with his daughter home and with the lives they are leading together. It isn't until his sister, Masa, makes the observation that Noriko has gone far too long without marrying, that he begins to question things. He too begins to pressure Noriko that she must marry, and begins to insinuate that he wishes to remarry as well and that she need not worry about taking care of him. Many conversations seem to have taken place between Shukichi and Masa off-screen, as at the end of the movie it is revealed that Shukichi's plans for remarriage were fabricated by both he and Masa in order to influence Noriko in her decision. Shukuchi feigns happiness at Noriko's wedding (as does Noriko… quite poorly), but at the end of the film we see him return home to his empty house in a devastating scene where his true distress becomes apparent. In this moment, the movie strikes a powerful note as we realize neither Noriko nor Shukichi wanted for this marriage to happen and neither are happy with the outcome. They were both made to feel selfish by others around them – Shukichi for keeping Noriko home so long with him and Noriko for keeping her father from remarrying. In reality, neither of these two things are true, but the characters are made to believe them through the pressures of their family and friends. Now, they find themselves in places that neither of them wanted or needed, but that society has deemed "correct" for them. It's a poignant and thoughtful tale which is marvelously achieved by the strength of spectacular direction and acting. Setsuko Hara is absolutely radiant and Noriko. She shines in every single scene and has such an effortless quality to her acting that makes her every move feel completely natural. Chishû Ryû as Shukichi is equally brilliant as a caring father who is conflicted between keeping his daughter by his side and shooing her out the door to a more socially acceptable life. And everything of course is tied together by Ozu's absolutely masterful direction which makes for a film that is deep, thought-provoking, and emotionally resonant.
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