An Autumn Afternoon (1962) User Reviews

An updated version of BANSHUN

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 4 June 2009]

My favorite Yasujiro Ozu film is BANSHUN. And so, as I sat watching SANMA NO AJI, I quickly realized that this film is essentially a retooling of BANSHUN. Both films are about a devoted daughter living quite happily with her widower father. The father, however, realizes that the daughter is giving up a lot, so it's his goal to get her out and married for her own good. There are some differences, though, in the films. In SANMA NO AJI, it's not just the father but also the young lady's employer who sees a need for her to marry. In addition to taking care of her father, there also is a younger brother in the home. Still, it is essentially the same story with a few twists--and in color.

It's also highly reminiscent of many of the mid to late Ozu films in a variety of ways. Like his usual style, the camera is stationary and often is at floor level--with cuts instead of closeups. You may not notice this at first, but it's clearly the director's trademark. In addition, the film has the typical slow and gentle pace and is about the conflicts between modern Japanese life and tradition. In this sense, there's not a lot that's too new about the film other than a light and modern (for 1962) soundtrack--very bouncy yet gentle.

As for the film, the father (Shuhei) has a pretty nice life. He has a nice job, often goes out with friends to drink and Michiko (the daughter) takes care of his needs at home. However, as the film progresses he notices in other people's relationships that something is missing. In particular, meeting with an old school teacher from 40 years ago is a wake-up, as this old man also lives with his unmarried daughter--and his life is a bit pathetic. Shuhei is afraid that in later years, his and his daughter will have a similar relationship. So, he and his married son go about trying to arrange a marriage for Michiko--who does want to marry, though judging by her outward appearance and insistence that she wants to stay home and take care of her father, you's never know it.

Overall, it's an incredibly slow but satisfying film and a nice end to Ozu's career, as it is his last film. Well worth seeing and full of lovely and realistic vignettes. For those who are looking for action and excitement, you may not like this film. For those who can appreciate a slower and more deliberately paced film, this is hard to beat. A lovely portrait of life in Japan circa 1962.

By the way, is it me or did those people in the film really drink a lot?! Wow!

Let This Movie Gently Win You Over

[madcardinal · 8/10 · 28 January 2010]

A sensitive film which observes a widower and his family as they navigate through their days and nights in post-WWII Japan, a place where etiquette and custom are still important and individuality counts for less than it does in the U.S.A. We witness a world where unmarried women are expected to take care of their partner-less fathers and brothers.

This film features excellent use of color, especially the placement of yellows and reds.

"An Autumn Afternoon" grows on you as you slowly, steadily work your way into the lives of Mr. Hirayama and his family; it's as if the camera were a guest gaining the acceptance of the major characters.

Will Mr. Hirayama come upon his own personal autumn afternoon - a state of philosophical clarity where he can discern things soberly and make a wise and compassionate decision?

A must-see for devotees of Japanese cinema, director Ozu, and those who love quiet, gentle films.

Revisiting "Banshun" in the Swan Song of the Great Master

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 12 February 2013]

In the early 60's in Tokyo, the widower Hirayama (Chishû Ryû) is a former captain from the Japanese navy that works as a manager of a factory and lives with his twenty-four year-old daughter Michiko (Shima Iwashita) and his son Kazuo (Shin'ichirô Mikami) in his house. His older son Koichi (Keiji Sada) is married with Akiko (Mariko Okada) that are compulsive consumers and Akiko financially controls their expenses.

Hirayama frequently meets his old friends Kawai (Nobuo Nakamura) and Professor Horie (Ryûji Kita), who is married with a younger wife, to drink in a bar. When their school teacher Sakuma (Eijiro Tono) comes to a reunion of Hirayama with old school mates, they learn that the old man lives with his daughter that stayed single to take care of him. Michiko lives a happy life with her father and her brother, but Hirayama feels that it is time to let her go and tries to arrange a marriage for her.

"Sanma no aji" is the last movie of the Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu about his favorite theme: family and human relationship. Actually he revisits in color thirteen years later, the theme of the wonderful "Banshun". Both story lines are about an old father that realizes that he can not hold his daughter with him anymore and she needs to get married with an arranged marriage as a natural order of life in the traditional Japan. The beautiful and touching story shows also the contrast between the traditional and the newer generation formed by consumers and is supported by awesome performances and the use of magnificent camera work, with symmetrically framed images. Last but not the least, it is impressive how the characters drink in this movie. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil):"A Rotina Tem Seu Encanto" ("The Routine Has its Charm")

Ozu's Great Swan Song

[crossbow0106 · 10/10 · 19 April 2008]

This is Ozu's last film, and it is wonderful. At first, I wondered if it could be even good. It has similar themes of other, amazing films like "Late Spring" and "Early Summer", both of which had the truly amazing actress Setsuko Hara, who is not in this film. However, this film is just about as great as them, since it has one of the best acting performances of terrific Ozu regular Chishu Ryu. He plays the father, a widower with three children, two sons and a daughter. It is no surprise to me that the daughter Michiko, played by Shima Iwashita and Akiko the daughter in law, played by Mariko Okada, have had such long, varied careers in cinema. They are great in their roles. There is a certain sass to both of them which really comes across in their characters. They are also both beautiful. The story also has a great sideline, in which Mr. Ryu's old friends help out an teacher, nicknamed "The Gourd". From there, you meet the teacher's daughter Tanako, a familiar face to all Ozu fans. I was deeply affected by Tomako, even though her role is small. I feel her sadness and loneliness. Another great scene is when the father meets up with an old armed services buddy and they go to a local bar and play a war march. They are a bit drunk, and they salute. Playing the barmaid is the great actress Kyoko Kishida, star of the great "Manji" and "Woman In The Dunes". I was deeply interested in the lives of these people, and find the film to be just wonderful, displaying the emotions that a great Ozu film possesses. This film is profoundly moving. I would not start with this film as an introduction to Ozu, only because "Tokyo Story", "Late Spring" and "I Was Born, But" are such masterpieces, but this ranks with them. A deeply profound, excellent epitaph from Yasojiro Ozu, one of the greatest directors ever, from anywhere at any time. See it, you will not be disappointed. Rest in peace, Yasojiro Ozu.

An experience that will last a lifetime

[howard.schumann · 5 May 2003]

An Autumn Afternoon, the final film by the great Yasujiro Ozu, is a portrayal of family interaction and conflict that provides a moving summation of a career that produced 53 films in 60 years. Similar in theme to his 1949 film Late Spring, a widowed father, Shuhei Hirayama, portrayed by the wonderful Chishu Ryu, wants his 24-year old daughter, Michiko, (Shima Iwashima) to marry but fears loneliness. After the death of her mother, as is traditional in Japanese families, Michiko has assumed her role, taking care of household chores and making sure that her father's needs are met. She feels no urge to marry and prefers to remain at home.

Much of An Autumn Afternoon consists of small vignettes of family life. One of these involves Hirayama's son Koichi (Keiji Sada) and his wife Akiko (Mariko Okada. Both seem to mirror the encroaching consumer values of the new Tokyo lit up with neon lights, Coca-Cola signs, and rooftop golf. They bicker about finances, borrow money from their parents, and talk about buying expensive golf clubs and leather handbags on installment. The film has moments of delightful humor. Hirayama spends a great amount of time at a bar run by a woman who looks like his former wife, reminiscing about the good old days and listening to a military march from World War II. In one of the funniest scenes, he talks to a former shipmate who tells him that if Japan had won the war, American women would be playing Japanese musical instruments and wearing geisha style wigs and they both agree that it was better that Japan lost.

When one of Hirayama's employees tells him she is leaving to get married, he begins to wonder whether or not it is also the time for Michiko. When Hirayama's friend Kawai (Nobuo Nakamura) proposes a match for Michiko, however, he does not tell his daughter about it, thinking there is plenty of time. The situation is crystallized when he has a reunion with an old school teacher Sakuma, (Eijiro Tono) known as "The Gourd" and notices how guilty his friend feels for not insisting that his daughter Tomoko marry when she had the opportunity. The result is an acceptance of the inevitable and the sadness that goes along with it. As An Autumn Afternoon ends, the camera pans around an empty room. We see an old man sitting on a chair, his head in his hands, weeping quietly. In his final moment of grace, Ozu has given us another experience that will last a lifetime.

A true work of art.

[kmsc2c · 10/10 · 25 September 2005]

When I first saw this film it struck me as being a very unusual and odd little movie. The camera work was direct and straightforward, as if the director were composing a still life painting. With the passage of time I remembered this film not as a whole but as a series of vignettes, the sailor marching in the bar, the unrequited lovers waiting for a train on the platform, the father staring into his daughter's empty room. I have recently seen An Autumn Afternoon again, and was not disappointed. Each scene has an almost indescribable longing, an ephemeral quality that speaks to the beauty and sadness of everyday life. I love this film, it is a true work of art.

What a swan song!

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 21 July 2012]

I have seen many visually beautiful and emotionally moving films, but not as many recently. An Autumn Afternoon is one of those primary examples. Meditative in its pacing it is, but it is never dull. How everything is made and written really makes an interesting and very rewarding experience indeed. It is incredibly well made to start off with, the camera is kept at low angles and is still, but for me this allowed me to explore and really admire the scenery and the framing which are very elegantly done. Kojan Siato's score is one of those soothing and unobtrusive scores that helps the audience to connect with An Autumn Afternoon's gentle mood. How An Autum Afternoon is written is also exceptional, as well as the gentle tone, the story has this great warmth, wisdom and humanity. As well as Ozu's meticulous as ever direction what is also great about An Autumn Afternoon is the lead performance, Chishu Ryu's performance is dignified and altogether very touching. In conclusion, not just one of the cinema's greatest swan-song but a masterpiece of a film also. 10/10 Bethany Cox

The beauty of things

[solstice5555 · 10/10 · 5 December 2011]

I can whole-heartedly relate to previous reviewers' sentiments about this movie. From my own perspective it is also an awesome celebration of beauty. The theme is the same Ozu's favorite—separation of father and his grown-up daughter-- however it is presented in a different, less nerve-wrecking and more humorous way (as compared to Late Spring), but most of all -- within the colorful kaleidoscope of everyday things looking as works of art in themselves. Ozu rejoices in showing the beauty of such mundane objects as mugs, bowls, kimonos, tables, lamp shades, houses, fences, even industrial chimneys and such. Colors and shapes are arranged into perfect compositions and sometimes it seems that still objects actually govern the mood and the flow of people around them. The parallel with Tarkovskij's movies, like Solaris and Stalker, where the harmony of individual objects creates its own layer of movie symbolism, seems natural, only Russian movies were shot more than a decade later. I watched An Autumn Afternoon several times with the same joyful interest and gratitude for the gift of showing us the beauty of everyday life.

An Often Told Tale; But Best Of The Bunch.

[net_orders · 7/10 · 18 July 2016]

Viewed on DVD. Restoration = ten (10) stars. The story line (yet again) deals with the conflicts arising from twenty-something, unmarried (and attractive) daughters living with (and focused on caring for) aging widowed fathers (who need to get on with their lives). To say that Director Yasujiro Ozu was obsessed with variation on this theme would be a vast understatement. He kept making essentially the same film over and over (trying to get things right or just stuck in a non-creative funk?) with translated titles often including the name of a season. Sort of like a TV series with one episode per season (pun intended). But the version presented in this film is the best of the bunch. The same old story line is significantly punched up with a robust, imaginative script offering a wide variety of plot-related and tangential events (including the game of Go which is rarely--if ever--seen in the "classical" Japanese cinema), and often amusing scenes populated by engaging character actors in cameo appearances. And the pacing is "brisk," at least by this Director's standards. The film also reflects fascinating aspects of contemporary Japanese life and culture (circa early 1960's). Many of the same actors and actresses appear in this film as they have in others of the series, but mostly play different roles (as is usually the case). The male lead actor (Chishu Ryu) turns in another stunning performance. Same interiors, scenes and sequence of scenes, and even shots and sequence of shots as employed in prior films. Music is heard during most of the movie, and resembles film scores from the European cinema and, especially, the Italian cinema of the era. Kimonos look exquisite, even the "everyday" ones. Cinematography (color) and sound are fine. Visual effects are primitive. Subtitles are indispensable for helping with the Western dialect used throughout the film. A keeper. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.

A Great Introduction To Ozu

[davidals · 10/10 · 30 November 2002]

This was one of the first Ozu films I saw, and is one of my favorites. Ozu's themes - a family adjusts uneasily to the rapidly shifting traditions of life in middle-class, postwar Japan - are handled with great subtlety, and many dark ironies are to be found beneath the fragile quietude at this film's surface. This isn't just applicable to Japan, and this realization gives this film a sad sting that stuck with me long after the movie was over. Ozu's famous 'look' - no closeups, no crane shots, a still camera fixed at 3 1/2 feet off the floor or ground also gives this film an unforgettable grace and beauty. DVD please???

Lacking compared to other Ozu, but it captures an interesting cycle of life.

[Sergeant_Tibbs · 7/10 · 22 November 2014]

Having only seen two other films from Yasujiro Ozu - Tokyo Story and Late Spring, both of which are thoroughly impressive - it's hard to shake that An Autumn Afternoon is praised solely for being his final film. I thought that premise was familiar - it's borrowed from Late Spring at the very least, and most likely from more of Ozu's films. However, it's difficult to feel that he's necessarily exploring it in a deeper more interesting way. It's a different angle, focusing on the father's perspective, but although I like the actors the plot felt so meandering that it didn't engage me, though nor did it bore me. It feels a little too derivative. Ostensibly Ozu's films suit a black and white environment as the colour pastilles don't have the same richness his traditional cinematography provides. However, if anything, by its end it captures a striking image of loneliness. It accentuates the irony of sending offspring to marry just to result in this, as though it's a cycle of life. Perhaps Ozu's own repetitiveness evokes that cycle even more, though it hardly resonates 50 years later in the West. Still, it's a solid film worth watching. I'll see what else Ozu has in store for me.

7/10

The first Ozu film that fully clicked with me - a short review

[tobias_681 · 10/10 · 21 February 2016]

At times I find Ozu's films a little stale. I liked the films I've seen yet (Late Spring, Tokyo Story and Floating Weeds) however I couldn't fall in love with any of them. This time around (in An Autumn Afternoon) I really loved the atmosphere - it's absorbing. Ozu frames the cityscapes in a completely unique and spellbinding way (really, wow). Even characters walking along a hallway gave me goosebumps. Maybe it's the most spot on movie about post-modernity. All scenes capture that feeling so brilliantly. All the small moments (the son playing golf, the daughter and her brothers friend waiting at the train station, the father and his friends talking together or even just the father and his children sitting in the house) add up to an incredible picture. Almost every shot is well framed that the composition always indicates some sort of distance. There's also that brilliant scene at the bar with the father and the guy who was part of the military as well. It's when you realize that the illusions broke but that there isn't much left now. There's that wishing you could return (what if Japan had won the war) but it's not possible. It's indicative for much of the film, the characters know what they want but it's incredibly hard to get. However the film yet has some happiness about it and Ozu's use of music is magnificent. It hums its way right into your heart.

A remarkable filmography of an Unforgettable director ends with an unexpected, ordinary and Forgettable Film.

[SAMTHEBESTEST · 6/10 · 16 February 2021]

Sanma no aji / An Autumn Afternoon (1962) : Brief Review -

A remarkable filmography of an Unforgettable director ends with an unexpected, ordinary and Forgettable Film. An Autumn Afternoon could probably be tested as the Weakest work of Yasujiro Ozu but being his Last film this film was expected do lot better naturally. I am not saying it's a bad film but the standard of Ozu is so high that even Very Good film looks just good and good film looks Average. Going by this equation i must say it's a good film but the real value of it stands lower compared to other Classics of Master Ozu. The film is about an aging widower arranges a marriage for his only daughter after realising that he had wasted so much time already for his own benefit. One of the major reason about this film being lesser compared to other Ozu films in content margin is it's predictability and over-simplicity. If you remember 'Banshun' (1949) where the Father was selfless and Daughter was over-protective, however, the plan is on opposite side here. The father is selfish and the daughter is pretty rude therefore the kind Nature is withdrawn. It might have worked better with strong emotions than being too simple. Chisu Ryu seemed much better in acting department than his previous roles, mainly because of those drunkard scenes. Rest of the cast is good too. An Autumn Afternoon lacks burning falmes of dialogues wherein the same simplicity kills its potential to grow further. Talking about the Cinematography, it is far better than other aspects. Ozu's same formula of catching nostalgic frames such as house parts, nature, city, train and other living elements works just the same. Overall, it's a fine film with less mistakes, it is just that the high standard of Ozu carries heavy burden which cannot be handled by any ordinary script.

RATING - 6.5/10*

By - #samthebestest

"After all the work of raising them, they leave us so soon"

[evening1 · 5/10 · 10 November 2019]

There is much eating and drinking in this film, and its height of athleticism is captured in the swing of a golf club. You won't find much action here, but, in the quietest of ways, this movie captures sweeping change in post-WWII Japan.

Mr. Hirayama (Chushu Ryu) has lost his wife, perhaps in the bombing of Tokyo, so his 24-year-old daughter has remained at home to take care of the ex-Naval captain and her younger brother.

The dapper, soft-spoken Hirayama urges his secretary to avoid spinsterhood and settle down. Yet he doesn't question his own daughter's sacrifice until he hears the guilty musings of an older widower whose stay-at-home daughter has missed a chance at love.

Released in 1962, this film captures a culture that still relies on arranged marriages. Hirayama consults his cronies for marriage prospects, despite the obvious unhappiness of his married-but-childless son Koichi (played by the handsome actor Keiji Sada, who died only two years later in a car crash).

In "Autumn," director Ozu's final film, we observe ritualized politeness at every turn. Yet there are glimmerings of change in the female characters, who, while catering to male well-being, also speak out and show their opposition.

This film's male characters show a preoccupation with domestic life. Seemingly saddled with dull, bureaucratic office jobs, they evince few other interests while lingering over saki and beer for hours on end. One wonders whether alcoholism is an underlying problem.

Yet hints of mounting change are unmistakable. No longer can widowed elders rely on the younger generation to hang up their hat and keep a home.

"In the end," Hirayama says, "we spend our lives alone."

Ozu's most visually beautiful film - a masterpiece

[Flak_Magnet · 10 September 2009]

Ozu's final film is his most visually beautiful, and among his most somber. Aside from "Tokyo Story," "Late Spring" and "A Story of Floating Weeds," this is my favorite Ozu film. There are several stories at work in this movie, but the primary involves a middle-aged father whose adult daughter is reluctant to marry. Long detached from her, the father realizes, only too late, that with her departure, goes the happiest chapter of his life. Ozu's style is extremely refined at this point, and "An Autumn Afternoon" shows the director at the height of his artistic prowess. As such, this movie is a terrific introduction to Ozu, and it is a rewarding farewell for fans. Visually speaking, this one is a stunner, and every frame of the movie is a stand-alone composition. Many of the Ozu stock company make appearances, including Chishu Ryu and Keiji Sada, as well as some new faces, such as Kyoko Kishida from "Woman in the Dunes." The story is a classic Ozu meditation on family, marriage, and nostalgia, and the ending is among his most remorseful. If you appreciate Ozu or are just curious about this quiet master, "An Autumn Afternoon" is a great choice. This film is a serene, graceful masterpiece.

Post-war shattered dreams

[Teyss · 10/10 · 14 April 2017]

"An Autumn Afternoon" is Ozu's last picture and probably his most bitter. In his other movies, sorrow was generally compensated by some caring characters or an affectionate relationship. Here, nothing really positive emerges. The plot is similar to the one of Banshun (1949), where the same actor also played a widower persuading his daughter to marry; however, "An Autumn Afternoon" is darker, with more social insight.

The original title ("The Taste of Mackerel Pike") is low-key, mysterious and meaningful, somewhat like Ozu's films. It refers to a fish that is widely eaten in Japan, especially in autumn when it is abundant: its taste is bitter (if eaten whole as Japanese frequently do for this species); and autumn evokes a world that is changing, possibly decaying.

It is a post-war movie, even though it was shot 17 years after WWII, in the sense that an emerging society tries to find its path within a modern world. There are many references to the war: Hirayama went to the Naval Academy; Hirayama and Sakamoto were on a warship; they discuss about war, as well as other customers later on; a jukebox plays a patriotic song twice (the Navy Hymn) and Hirayama sings it at the very end; Hirayama, Sakamoto and the waitress imitate the military salute; we understand Hirayama's wife died during WWII. The country faces mourning, humiliation of defeat, development challenges. Yet the society that emerges is void: it displays solitude, acrimony and materialism.

BITTER RELATIONSHIPS

Solitude is a dominant feature.

• Characters talk about professors and spouses who disappeared.
• Hirayama and Sakuma are widowers. A barmaid reminds Hirayama of his late wife.
• Hirayama, Kawai and Horie make jokes about death and refusal (see below).
• Hirayama is left alone at the end, drunk and depressed. His last words ending the movie are: "Lonely in life".
• Michiko is turned down by the man she loves. The plot then tends towards her marriage with another man, which should be good news; however we never see the ceremony and not even the bridegroom at any point: we just see Michiko in her wedding dress, silent and sad. Symbolically, she is still alone.
• After he comes back from the wedding, the barmaid asks Hirayama, "Were you at a funeral?" to which he tragically answers: "Sort of". It could be his own funeral since he is now lonely, or his daughter's, buried in a marriage that could turn out as the other couple's (see below).

Even when characters are not alone, relationships are cruel.

• Koichi and his wife Akiko always argue. There is not one single sweet moment between them, despite the fact it is the only couple we see (Horie's wife only appears briefly).
• Hirayama is frequently scolded by his children, even though he is a decent man.
• Koichi lies to him about the money he needs to buy a fridge.
• Tomoko despises her father Sakuma. Sakamoto says about Sakuma's noodle bar, right in front of him: "It's ugly here, let's go elsewhere."
• People frequently leave gatherings earlier than expected, spoiling the atmosphere. Notably, Horie unexpectedly leaves the dinner with Hirayama and Kawai, despite the fact Kawai cancelled a baseball game to attend.
• These so-called friends play nasty jokes to each other: Hirayama and Kawai make the waitress believe Horie is dead, while he is only late; afterwards, Kawai and Horie make Hirayama believe his daughter will not be able to marry the man they recommended, which saddens Hirayama, even though it is a lie.

And when relationships are not tense, they are shallow: conversations are mostly pointless; people drink a lot when they are together. Worse: left to their own fates, individuals have nothing valuable to hang on to. Knowledge is not praised any more: the former respected professor Sakuma is now obliged to run a cheap noodle restaurant to make a living. Lifestyle is disrupted; many activities relate to Western culture, not Japanese: Sakamoto complains American culture has invaded Japan... while drinking a whisky in a bar with a Western name! Characters also watch baseball or play golf with American branded clubs. The main exception is the aforementioned patriotic song, but that scene is highly ironic since Japan lost the war.

MATERIALISM

The only tangible element that dominates is materialism.

• Koichi and Akiko mostly think about buying a fridge, golf clubs, a handbag...
• Akiko covets a vacuum cleaner at a friend's home.
• Overall the movie is smooth: there are no loud noises, nobody shouts, we barely hear the city despite the fact we are in the middle of Tokyo. Precisely, the only exceptions are loud noises coming from material elements symbolising consumption: golf balls against the practice metal net, a jukebox, a syrupy off-screen music ironically playing when people go out to drink.
• Likewise, the most striking images are void of persons: the movie opens with shots on a huge factory with fuming chimneys; throughout the movie there are repeated "empty" shots, notably of bright neon signs outside the bars; we do not only hear the golf balls striking the metal net, we see them distinctly; the movie ends on other "empty" shots.

As a result of all above, persons are frequently sad: Hirayama, Michiko, Sakuma, Tomoko. The only relief is getting drunk. Amid this vacuity, only does the main character Hirayama understand his country has taken a wrong path. In a stunning remark that must have thoroughly shocked Japanese 1960s audiences, he admits to Sakamoto: "It is maybe better we lost the war" (instead of invading the USA with their culture if Japan had won instead). Nobody else seems to mind. For instance two customers in the bar shockingly laugh when they mention Japan was defeated: who cares as long as we can drink, they seem to think.

With "An Autumn Afternoon", Ozu asks: where have we gone? We could have built a brand new society with values, solidarity, hope; yet exactly the opposite happened. A bitter testimony that could still be valid nowadays.

Dayenu

[boblipton · 10/10 · 30 April 2019]

As in Ozu's LATE SPRING, widower Chishu Ryu decides it is time for his youngest child, daughter Shima Iwashita, to marry. It comes on him suddenly in the midst of his comfortable routines -- the well paid executive position, the drinking bouts with his old friends, the nightcap at the inevitable bar around the corner -- that time is passing. She is 24. At first she resists. What will he and her younger brother do without her? He replies that they will manage.

Unlike the earlier movie, this one isn't about the daughter, but the father. Before the war Ozu had worked in many genres, with his largest influence seeming to be Leo McCarey. After the war he settled into a series of meditations of the Japanese family in a changing Japan, concentrating on first one member, then the other. As he grew older, so did the focus of the story.

Some people say Ozu's technique, which had favored ecstatic moving shots in the late 1920s, grew simpler. He set his camera on the floor, looking up at his subjects, and let the drama and comedy play out before it. I don't think so. I think that his interest in story grew less and his interest in character increased, and he found the tricks of camera movement, crane shots and structuring the background for composition, to be a distraction. And so, here, we come to know Chishu Ryu's character, even though he says little, orders nothing, yet clearly commands love and respect from all who know him.

Ozu's mother died, and he was trying to deal with cancer while he worked on his next movie when he died on his sixtieth birthday, December 12, 1963. For lovers of his films, there would be no WINTER. Instead, we may imagine the bar around the corner, the same family -- with Chishu Ryu perhaps now a great-grandfather - still caring about each other and coping in a constantly changing Japan.

Autumn sonata

[jotix100 · 8/10 · 31 December 2010]

Yasuhiro Ozu brilliant film career ended with this elegiac look at a man, Shuhei Hirayama, who has seen his life pass him by without ever doing much about it. We meet the man, whose somewhat pleasant routine consists in preparing to go to a job that has given him a comfortable existence. At home, Hirayama is living with his unmarried daughter, Michiko, whose single status weighs heavily on him, after all, he is definitely grown old. Michiko's happiness is looked upon with his father's eyes, but at the same time, he will soon be by himself in an empty house with little, or no prospect for much. He realizes he cannot retain his daughter to keep the house forever.

Among his friends, there is one dear old man, his old teacher, now reduced to working in his own noodle shop. When Hirayama and his friends meet for regular dinners they have a great time, as it is the custom of Japanese men to meet alone for entertaining. The old teacher is feted, but the man cannot hold his liquor. Hirayama takes the man home. There, he witnesses the old man's spinster daughter trying to cope with her father. It is at this point that Hirayama looks into the future and decides he must find a good prospect for Michiko.

Ozu's themes of old versus new is at the center of the story. As the film begins we watch blue and red smoke stacks against blue skies, something that reminds us of modern paintings. Ozu's themes always revolved about family, tradition and the changing times, as in this film, his swansong to the cinema. The master evidently enjoyed working with Chichu Ryu, the lead actor in some of his best movies. Here, Mr. Ryu shows why the director liked him so much. The actor does a wonderful job as the man facing an uncertain future, but conscious enough of the happiness of the rest of his family.

Timeless, riveting, deeply personal experience

[eduardogarci · 10/10 · 2 August 2019]

Ozu is one of a kind. Only Ozu can evoke passion from the mundane, using an empty hallway to symbolize a lonely man's despair. An Autumn Afternoon is not a rollercoaster of emotion, rather a slow-building, melancholy punch to the gut. It's not a sob story - you will leave, not with sadness, but a feeling of deep appreciation for all the joy your life has afforded. Profound, cathartic, Ozu's magnum opus. This film lingers...

Visual Literacy

[Hossein_Hamidi · 7/10 · 17 June 2023]

Peace; The continuity in stillness and aesthetics of Yasujiro ouzo captures the viewer so that we read his films to the end at his command.

He attracts and dissolves us with his high visual literacy!

He can be recognized by his minimalist titles.

In his first plans, he slowly leads the viewer and step by step we notice a certain simplicity. He never surprises the viewer and shows himself very calmly. Yes, he is a tiger that does not show its teeth! They say: If you are not a tiger; You try to show your teeth, but a real tiger never shows its teeth first! He takes us with him and suddenly in successive plans without any conversation; We combine calculated compositions with a fixed camera with very simple views of everyday and repetitive subjects. In my opinion, these plans without dialogue lead the viewer to the other side (next sequence) like a bridge or a passage.

Without a doubt, Yasajiro Ezu can be called a composition master.

He obsessively places his camera where it should be and films from a short height (he says somewhere: I look at the world from the height of Japanese people sitting on the ground).

Among the features of Ezo plans, I can mention the following: 1- The camera is fixed in 95% of the plans.

2- Excellent use of depth of field.

3- The unique use of movements inside the image and entering and exiting them. Such as: people / trains / shadows / light / and... 4- The use of the first/second/third/fourth curtain of the picture and sometimes with the opening of a Japanese sliding door in the depth of the square, the fifth curtain is also used.

5- Fast and non-standard Hollywood editing. He never uses Dizalu.

6- Unique use of linear and surface composition. No line ever goes out of the corner of the frame!

7- The soothing use of lights (turning them on and off) creates a kind of joyful mysticism.

8- Bold and excellent use of the horizon line in nature scenes.

9-Sensitivity in using vivid colors and colored grays.

10- Very detailed arrangement and mise-en-scène with a kind of elegance and personality to things.

11- Using rhythm by repeating it in a plan (both in terms of form and color), look at teapots/drinking glasses/clothes/chairs and... 12- Creativity in translating a busy scene into an orderly and calm one.

13- Using repetitive actors and repetitive and familiar scenes.

In my opinion, Yasajiro Ezu paid more attention to the image than to the sound, and this shows the profound visual literacy of this master.

H. Hamidi.

Ozu's Valedictory Film Seems a Most Fitting Summation of His Legendary Career

[EUyeshima · 9/10 · 31 October 2008]

The last work from revered filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu is a surprising delight, at once a summation of the family dramas that dominated his postwar career and a celebration of his quiet artistry. It's a movie that doesn't call attention to itself and even goes as far as lifting entire sequences from his previous films. At the same time, this 1962 drama is not so much a re-telling of the same stories (co-written with longtime collaborator Kôgo Noda) as it is a re-evaluation of the same dramatic themes that inform the director's work since "Late Spring", his 1949 classic to which this film bears the strongest resemblance. Ozu aficionados will find all his familiar, idiosyncratic touches here - the elliptical narrative, the observational view of the characters from the outside, the thoughtfully composed shots, and the stationary, slightly above-ground camera angles to replicate the perspective of someone sitting on a tatami mat. Moreover, Ozu liked using the same actors over and over again, so it comes a no surprise that frequent Ozu actor Chishu Ryu stars in the director's valedictory film.

The character-rich plot centers on middle-aged businessman Shuhei Hirayama who lives with his 24-year-old daughter Michiko and younger son Kazuo. In the absence of a mother, Michiko takes care of the wifely responsibilities for her father and brother and hasn't considered marriage in the near term even though Japanese tradition would label her an old maid soon enough. Hirayama's old friend Kawai has an eligible bachelor in mind to connect with Michiko, but her heart belongs to someone else who is unaware of her interest. Hirayama thinks there is no hurry to marry his daughter off until he sees his old middle schoolteacher comically nicknamed "The Gourd" by his old classmates. Hirayama and Kawai take the wizened man home in a drunken state after a night of sake and beer. They see that he now owns a run-down noodle shop and lives with his daughter, an aging spinster who reveals hints of her sad fate. As Hirayama forges ahead with his daughter's prospect, his older son Koichi struggles to live within his modest means with a wife who nags him about his spendthrift ways. He needs to borrow money from his father to buy a new refrigerator but wants to buy a set of used MacGregor golf clubs against his wife's objections. The plot threads eventually come together when Michiko does marry leaving Hirayama to share household responsibilities with Kazuo.

What first catches your eye is Ozu's vivid use of color, especially a bold use of red in both defining and transitional shots. The other aspect is tonal as the director has moved from the barely concealed emotionalism of his early works to a certain ruefulness in his last film. The last few minutes cover the exact same dramatic finale of "Late Spring", but this time, it doesn't seem nearly as tragic, evoking a slightly melancholic resignation. The stoic Ryu plays the role of the widowed father in both films, this time given an intriguing backstory as an officer in the Imperial Navy during World War II. This leads to my favorite scene at a bar where Hirayama runs into a former sailor under his command (played with boisterous relish by Kurosawa favorite Daisuke Kato) and speculate what Japan would be like had they won the war. Played by Kyôko Kishida, the bar hostess will be familiar to art-house connoisseurs for the title role in Hiroshi Teshigahara's classic "Woman in the Dunes". Another familiar face is Haruko Sugimura (the selfish older daughter in "Tokyo Story") whose cameo as the schoolteacher's spinster daughter is heartbreaking. Eijiro Tonô (Tora! Tora! Tora!") cuts an effectively pitiable figure as her father.

Shima Iwashita plays Michiko with snippy plaintiveness, effective enough but a far cry from the luminous Setsuko Hara in the earlier film (her reassuring presence is missed here). Keiji Sada (who sadly died in a car crash soon after this film was made) and Mariko Okada etch a revealing postwar portrait of a young Japanese couple struggling to make ends meet in their small apartment. Compared to previous Ozu classics released by the Criterion Collection, the extras on this 2008 release are sparse and limited to one disc. First, there is a highly informative commentary track by author David Bordwell ("Ozu and the Poetics of Cinema"). The second is a fifteen-minute excerpt from a 1978 French TV special, "Yasujiro Ozu and The Taste of Saki" just as France was discovering his work. Critics Michel Ciment and Georges Perec lend their rather pretentious perspectives. Two theatrical trailers round out the disc extras. There is also a 28-page booklet about the film's production included in the slipcase.

A pretty good film which is one flaw away from reaching greatness.

[brianberta · 7/10 · 24 December 2022]

When I watched this film a couple years ago, I had a lukewarm reaction to it and I began to wonder if I was starting to feel diminishing returns with Ozu's style. When Early Summer blew me away earlier this year though, I thankfully found out this wasn't the case. I was also pleased to enjoy this film a bit more with a rewatch, though while I wouldn't say I'm a fan of it, I wouldn't say my issue is a result of feeling burnout with Ozu's style.

Before I explain my reservation though, it's important to defend Ozu a bit to explain why this film isn't just a case of recycled themes from his earlier films. While a couple other films I've seen from him (Late Spring and Early Summer) have recurring themes regarding marriage and while both their endings convey similar moods, this film stands in contrast from them by taking a two-sided approach to the subject of marriage, showing both the pros and cons of it. On one hand, we get the usual scenes of various people urging Hirayama to marry off Michiko, in addition to The Gourd and his middle-aged daughter Tomoko acting as a what-if scenario of what could happen if Hirayama's and Michiko's situations don't change. On the other hand though, given the occasional bickering between Koichi and Akiko and the discussions of one of Hirayama's acquaintances being ruined by marriage, it's apparent that, while Michiko may not necessarily be worse off if she gets married, it might not give her any further happiness than living with her father would. As a result, the habitual bittersweet ending works in a few ways this time. Of course, there's the surface level solemnity of families splitting apart. More importantly though, it's the implication that Michiko's emotional state while married might be the same as it was when she was with her father. Finally, there's Hirayama's reaction in the ending mimicking The Gourd's drunken behavior throughout the film, suggesting that marrying off Michiko might not have been enough to save Hirayama from meeting Sakuma's fate.

With that being said, while the potential for a great film is certainly here, that we don't get enough memorable scenes of Michiko provides a ceiling for my enjoyment of this. Throughout much of the first two-thirds of the film, her character is largely secondary to the conflicts and sub-plots of other characters in the film, whether you're referring to the banter of Hirayama's classmates, The Gourd's fractured relationship with his daughter, Koichi's conflict with his wife, or Sakamoto. As I sort of alluded to up above, these characters aren't necessarily irrelevant to the plot (I'm not sure how to interpret the post-WW2 aspect though), but their sub-plots took too much time away from Michiko. As a result, once the film got to the inciting scene of Hirayama urging Michiko to get married, I didn't have anywhere near the amount of emotional investment in her character to be moved by her scenes as much as I could've. Plus, that her arc in the final act moved at somewhat of a fast clip didn't help in this regard.

And this is a bit of a shame as the film had more than enough potential elsewhere to stand with Ozu's best films. Due to the lack of focus on Michiko though, it didn't reach that level of greatness for me. Regardless, it's still a pretty good film as the strengths I discussed up above are more than enough to carry it. If you're a fan of Ozu, you should find plenty to enjoy here.

Lock up your daughters....

[GyatsoLa · 9/10 · 15 April 2007]

A lovely Ozu movie on a very familiar topic for him - very similar theme (and many of the same actors) as in Late Spring and Late Autumn. In each movie the difference isn't in the plot, but in the tone. This was his last movie, and despite some very amusing scenes, it is touched with a deep sadness.

The story is simple - a widower who lives with his younger son and daughter is persuaded by his friends that he is selfish to hold on to her, that he should arrange a marriage for her. Otherwise he will end up like the 'Guord', his old teacher, who lives in poverty with his embittered daughter After some mishaps he eventually does marry her off. And... well, thats it, but then, this is an Ozu movie, you don't expect a shoot out at the end of it! Its not in my opinion as great a movie as Late Spring, in some respects he seems to depend more in this movie on the charm of the actors to pull us into the story of a crucial few months in this families life. There is a constant background theme of the rapid changes in Japan, with the older son battling with his wife for control of the purse strings in the household - a battle he seems destined to lose. But it is a lovely and moving film, a good introduction for anyone to Ozu.

Ozu in the 1960s

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 8 May 2015]

An aging widower arranges a marriage for his only daughter.

This was the final film of Ozu, who had been making great cinema for decades. His 1930s silent crime dramas are excellent, and everything after is worth a watch. For his final film, it gets a bit more modern. We have a young woman who really is not all that interested in getting married. How can it be that finding a suitable husband is not the first thing on hr mind? The framing and colors are excellent, and very much evoke the best of the 1960s. How Japan was different from other places at the time I do not know, but in some ways the worlds do not seem far apart. This could take place at an American office in the 50s or 60s. Well, without the bowing, anyway.

This is as Calm as the Title Sounds

[iquine · 3/10 · 20 June 2023]

Calm is not necessarily bad yet it didn't click with me. This is a good film to analyze its execution as it is of high craft. Several later in life aged Japanese men talk about their wives, daughters and losing the war (World War II) while they drink Sake. This being 1960s, there are a lot of rich cultural commentaries on fathers marrying off their daughters to solid husbands as well as scenes with the dynamics between husband and wife around spending vs saving money and who has the ultimate say in the family. The primary consistent theme is men ensuring their daughters marry and don't end up as old maids. The film is dialog driven, quietly paced, subtle string soundtrack, solid shot framing yet by modern standards, it feels slow and drags often while you await some sort of tension to spring up.