{"id":1689,"date":"2006-10-30T14:08:57","date_gmt":"2006-10-30T21:08:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1689"},"modified":"2020-12-15T14:48:16","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T21:48:16","slug":"late-spring-1949","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1689","title":{"rendered":"Late Spring (1949)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;If I left home, Father would be lost.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/10\/Late-Spring-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/10\/Late-Spring-Poster-211x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"211\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-31194\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/10\/Late-Spring-Poster-211x300.jpg 211w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/10\/Late-Spring-Poster-90x128.jpg 90w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/10\/Late-Spring-Poster.jpg 532w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 211px) 100vw, 211px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nAn aging widower (Chishu Ryu) lovingly deceives his devoted daughter (Sesuko Hara) in order to convince her that she should marry.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Father and Child<\/li>\n<li>Grown Children<\/li>\n<li>Incest and Incestuous Undertones<\/li>\n<li>Japanese Films<\/li>\n<li>Ozu Films<\/li>\n<li>Widows and Widowers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review:<\/strong><br \/>\nAs Peary notes, this &#8220;simply told yet lovely film&#8221; by Yasujiro Ozu showcases many of the themes the famed Japanese director would continue to explore in his later movies &#8212; including &#8220;the dissolution of the postwar Japanese family; the idea that married children&#8230; will become strangers to their parents; [and] the wise realization by the elderly that they must sacrifice their own happiness so that their children can make lives for themselves.&#8221; Ozu quietly evokes a specific time and place in post-WWII Japanese history, with most scenes focusing on the expressions and reactions of seated characters who are either pouring tea, folding clothes, chatting, or taking care of other daily activities. Ozu&#8217;s pace is refreshingly leisurely; his camera lingers quietly on scenes of the countryside, empty rooms about to be filled, and &#8212; most frequently &#8212; the lovely, smiling face of the film&#8217;s protagonist (Hara).<\/p>\n<p>Peary points out that Ozu makes the fascinating choice of never showing us Hara&#8217;s young &#8220;Gary Cooper-esque&#8221; spouse-to-be &#8212; indicating that in some ways, <em>Late Spring<\/em> is really a tragic story of &#8220;star-crossed lovers&#8221; (father and daughter) who are unable to justify a continued lifetime together. While Ozu only hints at the titillation of Hara&#8217;s &#8220;<em>unhealthy<\/em>&#8221; devotion to her father, there is definitely something &#8220;not quite right&#8221; between them. Indeed, any explicit mention of the need for <em>sexual<\/em> gratification is conspicuously absent from the film &#8212; although it would appear full-force in Ozu&#8217;s final movie, <em>An Autumn Afternoon <\/em>(1962), a virtual reworking of the same story.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> Interestingly, many of Ozu&#8217;s films reference seasons in their titles &#8212;  including <em>Early Summer<\/em> (1951), <em>Early Spring<\/em> (1956), <em>Late Autumn<\/em> (1960), <em>Early Autumn<\/em> (1961), and <em>An Autumn Afternoon<\/em> (1962). <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Setsuko Hara as Noriko, whose near-constant smile belies the depth of her conflicting emotions<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/10\/Hara.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/10\/Hara.JPG\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1686\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Chishu Ryu as Noriko&#8217;s sacrificing father &#8212; this wonderfully understated actor is always a pleasure to behold on-screen<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/10\/Ryu.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/10\/Ryu.JPG\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1687\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Many quiet scenes between Hara and Ryu, who are ultimately <em>too<\/em> comfortable in their life together<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/10\/FatherDaughter3.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/10\/FatherDaughter3.JPG\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1684\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Beautiful black-and-white cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/10\/Cinematography2.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/10\/Cinematography2.JPG\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1683\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>An interesting glimpse at American-occupied Japan after WWII<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/10\/Tokyo2.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/10\/Tokyo2.JPG\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1688\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>An emotionally devastating, yet ultimately satisfying, ending<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/10\/FinalScene1.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/10\/FinalScene1.JPG\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1685\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Senji Ito&#8217;s lilting, strings-heavy musical score, which permeates the film and brings a lump to one&#8217;s throat<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See?<\/strong><br \/>\nYes. Ozu&#8217;s film is a provocative, lovingly rendered depiction of filial loyalty in mid-century Japan. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Foreign Gem<\/li>\n<li>Important Director<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0041154\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1972\/07\/22\/archives\/screen-japanese-lifelate-spring-by-ozu-opens-at-new-yorker.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;If I left home, Father would be lost.&#8221; Synopsis: An aging widower (Chishu Ryu) lovingly deceives his devoted daughter (Sesuko Hara) in order to convince her that she should marry. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Father and Child Grown Children Incest and Incestuous Undertones Japanese Films Ozu Films Widows and Widowers Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: As Peary notes, this &#8220;simply told yet lovely film&#8221; by Yasujiro Ozu showcases many of the themes the famed Japanese director would continue to explore&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1689\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1689"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58072,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1689\/revisions\/58072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}