Bakushû (1951)

Note Générale:

8,0/10   

Réalisateur:

Yasujiro Ozu

Scénaristes:

Kôgo Noda (writer)
Yasujiro Ozu (writer)

Date de sortie:

2 août 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Drame

Intrigue:

A family chooses a match for their 28-year-old daughter Noriko, but she surprisingly has her own plans.

Plot Keywords:

Bachelor | Game Of Go | House | Brother Brother Relationship | Father Daughter Relationship

Récompenses:

7 wins

Avis des utilisateurs:

Superb understated and subtle cinematography, beaming and lovely main character, Ozu transforms what might be a moderately interesting peek into a family's life into a rich and delightful film

Ensemble

Setsuko Hara	...	Noriko Mamiya
Chishû Ryû	...	Koichi Mamiya
Chikage Awashima	...	Aya Tamura
Kuniko Miyake	...	Fumiko Mamiya
Ichirô Sugai	...	Shukichi Mamiya
Chieko Higashiyama	...	Shige Mamiya
Haruko Sugimura	...	Tami Yabe
Kuniko Ikawa	...	Takako
Hiroshi Nihon'yanagi	...	Kenkichi Yabe
Shûji Sano	...	Sotaro Satake
Toyo Takahashi	...	Nobu Tamura (as Toyoko Takahashi)
Seiji Miyaguchi	...	Nishiwaki
reste de la distribution par ordre alphabétique:
Ito Kazuyo	...	Mitsuko Yabe
Kokuten Kodo	...	Old Uncle
Zen Murase	...	Minoru Mamiya
Tomiko Nishiwaki	...	Tami Yamamoto
Matsuko Shiga	...	Mari Takanashi
Isao Shirosawa	...	Isamu Mamiya

Réalisé par
Yasujiro Ozu

Scénaristes (dans l'ordre alphabétique)
Kôgo Noda		writer
Yasujiro Ozu		writer

Produit par
Takeshi Yamamoto	....	producer

Musique originale
Senji Itô

Image
Yuuharu Atsuta

Montage
Yoshiyasu Hamamura

Assistant réalisateur
Shohei Imamura	....	assistant director

Companies de production

• Shôchiku Eiga

Distributeurs

• Shôchiku Eiga (1951) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Shochiku Home Video (2003) (Japan) (DVD)
• New Yorker Films (1972) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (Australia) (all media)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (New Zealand) (all media)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1975) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Sony Video (1988) (USA) (VHS)

Autre(s) titre(s):

Early Summer

Durée:

124 min

Pays:

Japan

Langue:

Japonais

Couleur:

Noir et Blanc

Rapport de forme:

1,37 : 1

Son:

Mono

Classification:

Australia:G

Lieux de tournage:

Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Société:

Shôchiku Eiga

Connexions:

Référencé sur Building the Inferno: Nobuo Nakagawa and the Making of 'Jigoku' (2006) (V)

Superb understated and subtle cinematography, beaming and lovely main character, Ozu transforms what might be a moderately interesting peek into a family's life into a rich and delightful film

I am writing this minutes after I finished watching this lovely 1951 film on video, "Bakushu" ("Early Summer"). It is my first introduction to the work of Yasujiro Ozu, who directed and co-wrote the film. Ozu (b.1903, d.1963), who directed over 50 films from the 1920s-1960s, is probably most famous for his film "Tokyo Monogatari" ("Tokyo Story") of 1953, which is cited by some film critics as one of the ten best films made.

"Early Summer" is the second of three films in which Setsuko Hara plays an unmarried young woman, aged 28 in "Bakushu", named Noriko (also in Ozu's 1949 "Banshun" or "Late Spring", and in "Tokyo Story"). Her always beaming and confident smile, mischievous but loving laughter, and unselfish and loving manner are a constant joy to experience - she's the kind of person anybody would love to have as a friend. Noriko lives in post-WW II Tokyo as part of an extended family of her parents along her somewhat stern brother (a doctor) and his warm wife and their two spoiled young sons, aged approximately 3 and 6. The family partially depends on her income as an office clerk of sorts.

The central theme is the family's concern that carefree Noriko is unmarried. A proposal comes in from a man twelve years her senior; the family feels this is a great opportunity that they hope she will respond positively to. How she takes all this in stride and works through the gentle pressure of getting married is the plot of the film, but the understated, low-key and low-angle camera shots make what might otherwise be an unexceptional story sweetly captivating and delightful.

I am reminded in this film of my favorite director, Satyajit Ray. Like Ray, at least in "Bakushu", Ozu very effectively uses minimal dialogue, little or no music, and subtlety to draw the viewer into the setting and paint a realistic picture of everyday life.

I felt instant connection with Setsuko Hara as vivacious and indomitable Noriko. Her brother, Koichi (Chishu Ryu) was impeneterably unemotional, probably stereotypically so. Koichi's wife, Aya Tamura (Chikage Awashima) seemed a tamer version of Noriko, almost like an older sister from the same roots. The parents Shukichi Mamiya (Ichiro Sugai) and his wife Shige (Chieko Higashiyama) were realistically portrayed as being content in fulfilling their familial responsibilities, and provided an even emotional keel.

If this is at all typical of Yasujiro Ozu's films, then I am anxious to seek out and start to enjoy his many other creations. The film moves at life's pace, but Ozu transforms what might be a moderately interesting peek into one family's life into a rich and delightful tapestry.

--Dilip Barman Sept. 21, 2003