2015 Blind Spot Series: The Human Condition Trilogy

Based on the novel series by Junpei Gomikawa, The Human Condition is a film trilogy that explores the life of a young man with socialist and pacifist views of the world who endures oppression and terror during the era of World War II Japan. Directed by Masaki Kobayashi and screenplay by Kobayahi and Zenzo Matsuyama, the film is set into three parts that plays into the journey of a young man who goes from labor camp supervisor to serving as part of the Imperial army in World War II and becoming a POW for the Soviet Union as he questions the journey of his life. Starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Iseko Ariama, Chikage Awashima, Keiji Sada, Taketoshi Naito, Minoru Chiaki, Yusuke Kawazu, Tamao Nakamura, Chishu Ryu, and Hideko Takamine. The Human Condition is an astonishing and tremendous study of humanity in the era of war from Masaki Kobayashi.

The film is a three-part story told in the span of nearly three years from 1943 Japan to early 1946 as a man named Kaji (Tatsuya Nakadai) would endure a series of events and moments that would shape his view of humanity as he tries to hold on to his views of socialism and pacifism thinking that there’s some good in the world of war. Since it is a three-part movie with a total running time of 574-minutes (nine-hours and forty-seven minutes without intermission), it is a film that plays into Kaji’s view on the world from trying to change things and then be pushed to the edge over how the world works. In the first film, he starts out serving as labor camp supervisor in Japanese-occupied Manchuria in China where he is challenged by corrupt men who want to punish and rule over the Chinese. Due to his actions in trying to maintain some peace and civility, he would be punished into becoming a soldier in the second film where he endures brutality in his training and later tension with soldiers as he tries to train older recruits.

The third film would have Kaji trying to survive once his platoon has been overwhelmed where he is eventually captured by Soviet forces as he contends with everything he endures and encounters. The screenplays by Masaki Kobayashi and Zenzo Matsuyama explore not just Kaji’s evolution as a man trying to find some kind of hope and humanity during a horrific period of war. In the first film, Kaji starts out as a man of great intelligence as he is exempted from military service where he would take a job in Manchuria as a labor camp supervisor where he brings his new bride Michiko (Michiyo Aratama) as she tries to understand the work that Kaji is trying to do in his work where he has to deal with corrupt officials despite the support of a camp officer in Okishima (So Yamamura) and a young Chinese officer in Chen (Akira Ishihama). While he tries to appease prisoners including a few troublesome Chinese prisoners like Kao (Shinji Nanbara) as well as offering prostitutes to ease their troubles.

Things don’t go right because of the way the Japanese wants to control things and to ensure the increase production in ore as trouble would ensue where Kaji’s actions into helping the Chinese and ensure that they’re treated humanly would lead to his path in the second film. By being forced to serve in the military as punishment where there are those watching over him, Kaji would survive training though he longs to be with his wife. Yet, some of the tactics of veteran soldiers and such would create trouble and tragedy where Kaji tries to make things right as his actions would get the attention of his old friend Kageyama (Keiji Sada) who would have Kaji train older recruits during the final moments of war. Yet, his attempts to make things easier and deal with things behind the scenes only trouble him as Soviet forces would arrive. The third film would be about Kaji’s attempt to survive with the few allies he has left as he would encounter a group of lost refugees, soldiers without leaders, and eventual capture by the Soviets. All of which leads to him trying to comprehend the idea of war and what it means to live.

It’s not just the development of Kaji that is important but also in the environment and people he encounter in his journey from being this idealist pacifist with socialist views on the world to a soldier who saw a world that is very troubled and dark in the days of war. In some ways, it is an anti-war film that is being told but one that plays into a man trying to hold into the idea that there is good in the world of war as he ponders if the enemy are just as humane as he is. While there are those who are baffled by his idealism and determination, they would admire him for sticking to his beliefs as he would be tested. Even in moments where Kaji would be forced to see people who are good be harmed either by their own selfishness or by some event as it add to Kaji questioning his own ideals as his capture by the Soviet would only create more confusion from within.

Kobayashi’s direction is nothing short of grand in terms of its visuals as well as the length to tell the story with such ambition. For the first film entitled No Greater Love and its subsequent films, Kobayashi does maintain compositions and images that do play into Kaji’s struggle with the world that often include slanted camera angles as if Kaji is either walking up or down a hill or a mountain. Shot on location in northern Japan (due to strained Chinese-Japanese relations at the time), Kobayashi’s usage of mountains and barren landscapes play into the world of the labor camps where the Chinese are imprisoned along with these intricate usage of tracking shots that would become a prominent factor for much of trilogy. Notably for scenes in the second film Road to Eternity where Kobayashi would use these intricate tracking shots to play into the sense of tension that emerges in the training camps and at the barracks where soldiers sleep as it makes things uneasy.

The direction also Kobayashi maintain a sense of intimacy through his usage of close-ups and medium shots for scenes at the camp and brothels in No Greater Love and at the camps in Road to Eternity. Much of it would play into not just Kaji’s sense of longing but also his struggle to hold on to his beliefs and the semblance of humanity around him. The close-ups wouldn’t just play into Kaji’s own state of mind but also in the characters who would become attached to him as the final days of the war is emerging. In the second half of Road to Eternity where Kaji and his platoon would have to battle it out with the Soviets. It does become a very different film where Kaji is in the middle of a battlefield knowing that he might die but manages to survive but its aftermath would play into a growing sense of disillusionment. It then leads to the third and final film of the trilogy in A Soldier’s Prayer where Kaji and a few soldiers he had befriend are fighting to survive where they would encounter refugees and others on their way back to Manchuria. The third film does become much broader in terms of its visuals and in its suspense as well as the sense of drama where Kaji is trying to maintain some dignity despite the fact that he knows that Japan has been defeated.

Kaji’s encounter with different types of refugees would play into his own resolve where Kobayashi’s direction is quite vast in its compositions that include some very wide shots of the farmland where Chinese militia farmers are taking watch. By the time the film moves into the Soviet camps, it does become more grim where Kaji would endure labor work as punishment but also a sense of disillusionment in the way he sees the Soviet as who they really are from their view of socialism. It’s in these moments where Kobayashi would definitely heighten the tension and drama for an ending where Kaji and everything he had encountered would force him to make a decision for what is right in the world. Overall, Kobayashi creates what is truly an astronomical and gripping trilogy of films about a humanist dealing with war and inhumanity during one of the most horrific periods in world history.

Cinematographer Yoshio Miyajima does brilliant work with the black-and-white cinematography for all three films where he infuses a lot of unique images and lighting schemes with Takaskhi Kato providing some harsh lights for a rainy scene in the first film while Akira Aomatsu does some of the lights for scenes at night and in the interiors for the second and third film as well as some naturalistic images for the latter for scenes set in the woods as the photography is among one of the film‘s highlights. Editor Keiichi Uraoka does amazing work with the editing in not just creating rhythmic cuts for some of the dramatic and active moments in the film but also some dissolves and stylish cuts to play into the drama including the usage of flashbacks and freeze-frames for the third film.

Production designer Kazue Hirakata, with set designers Yoji Maru (for the first film) and Takamasi Kobayashi (for the second and third films) and set decorators Kyoji Sasaki (for the first film) and Seiji Ishikawa (for the second and third films), does fantastic work with the set design from the look of the Manchurian villages where Kaji and Michiko would live to the labor camps, training camps, and other places that Kaji would encounter throughout his journey. Sound recorder Hideo Nishizaki does excellent work with the sound to capture the atmosphere of the labor camps and ore mines in the first film as well as the scenes set in the training camps, battlefields, and at the Soviet prison to play into the world that Kaji is at. The film’s music by Chuji Kinoshita is great as it features an array of compositions from somber string arrangements to play into the drama to bombastic orchestral numbers that add to the tone of war as well as cadence drum arrangements to play into that world of the military.

The casting for all three films are incredible as it is a large yet well-crafted ensemble in the many roles that were assembled for the film. From No Greater Love, there’s notable small roles from Nobuo Nakamura as labor camp manager, Akitake Kono as a camp captain, Eitaro Ozawa as a brutish camp official in Okazaki, Masao Mishima as the camp manager Kuroki, Seiji Mizoguchi as the prisoner Wang Heng Li, Shinji Nanbara as the prisoner Kao, Koji Mitsui as the abusive camp officer Furya, Ineko Arima as the prostitute Yang Chun Lan who falls for Kao, Akira Ishihama as the Chinese officer Chen, So Yamamura as the sympathetic officer Okimshima, and Chikage Awashima as the brothel madam Jin Tung Fu whom Chen would fall for.

From Road to Eternity, there’s small roles from Kokini Katsura and Jun Tatara as a couple of first-class privates, Michio Minami as the abusive private first-class Yoshida, Fumio Watanabe and Shoji Yasui as a couple of officers at the camp, and Susumu Fujita as an older recruit Kaji is training. From A Soldier’s Prayer, there’s noteworthy small roles from Tamao Nakamura as a refugee Kaji and his fellow soldiers encounter, Ed Keene and Ronald Self as a couple of Soviet officers, Koji Kiyoumura and Keijiro Morozumi as a couple of soldiers, Kyoko Kishida as a prostitute refugee that Koji meets, Reiko Hitomi as a young woman who joins the soldiers on a journey, Hideko Takamine as a woman in a refugee camp, and Chishu Ryu as an old man in the refugee camp.

From the second film, Kei Sato is terrific as the veteran recruit Shinjo who would make a drastic attempt to escape the military while Kunie Tanaka is superb as the poor-sighted and cowardly Obara who would endure horrific abuse in the hands of supervisors. Keiji Sada is excellent as Kaji’s old friend Kageyama who appears in the first and second film where he becomes a lieutenant in the latter who would appoint Kaji to train a group of older officers. Taketoshi Naito and Yusuke Kawazu are brilliant in their respective roles as the soldiers Tange and Terada who both admire Kaji for his determination with the former being the cynic and the latter being a young man. Nobuo Kaneko is fantastic as the corrupt officer Kirihara who would also be captured by the Soviets where he is able to sway things in their favor much to Kaji’s disgust.

Michiyo Aratama is amazing as Kaji’s wife Michiyo who copes with her husband’s activities and his absences as she would visit him during his training as a soldier while becoming an object of determination in the third film where she would appear as an apparition of other women to remind him what he needs to return to. Finally, there’s Tatsuya Nakadai in a performance for the ages as Kaji as an idealistic young man who would endure some of the most horrific events in history. It’s a performance where Nakadai maintains a sense of humility and drive into his performance where he starts off as determined to make a difference in a world that is very cruel only to be pushed and pushed to face the harsher side of reality. Even as he contends with some of the actions he had caused and his attempts to do good during the time of war as it is a very haunting yet exhilarating performance from Nakadai.

The 2009 four-disc Region 1 DVD set from the Criterion Collection presents the films in their 2:35:1 theatrical aspect ratio on an enhanced 16x9 widescreen format with 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono sound as both sound and image are remastered for this release. Three discs contain the three different films in the trilogy as well as a fourth disc of special features. The first is a fourteen-minute excerpt of a rare 1993 interview with Masaki Kobayashi by filmmaker Masahiro Shinoda made for the Japanese Director’s Guild. Kobayashi talks about his collaboration with cinematographer Yoshio Miyajima and their methods as well as aspects on the production along with the first film’s initial reception, despite winning an award at the Venice Film Festival, where it wasn’t well-received.

The 18-minute interview Tatsuya Nakadai has the actor talking about the film and his performance where he was just a newcomer who had worked with Kobayashi prior to making the trilogy. Nakadai also talks about the production as it was a tough one that spanned over three years as only he and Kobayashi were the only ones that didn’t get sick throughout the production. Nakadai also talks about how some of his performance was based on Kobayashi’s own experience as a POW which he added into the film as well as talking about seeing the film over the years which he is proud of as he also thinks it’s one of the finest anti-war films ever made.

The 25-minute appreciation video about the film and Kobayashi by filmmaker Masahiro Shinoda has the filmmaker discussing a lot of the film’s themes and how it would relate to the films Kobayashi would make throughout his career. Shinoda also talks about Kobayashi’s life as a POW which would reflect on some of the scenes shown on the film where Kobayashi wanted a realistic depiction of what it was like. Shinoda also talks about the novelist of the stories who, like Kobayashi, was also part of the military that refused to serve as an officer where the two both shared their own experiences of war which would play into the film. Shinoda also talks about the romantic elements in the film that he felt was overlooked as he revealed much of the influence of late 1930s French cinema that had an impact on Kobayashi as a filmmaker.

The DVD set includes the trailers for all three films which displays its sense of ambition and importance to the Japanese cinema. The DVD set also includes an essay by film historian Philip Kemp entitled The Prisoner where Kemp talks about Kobayashi’s film career but also the state of Japan during the time the film was made. One of which where Japan was struggling with the actions it caused as well as be in denial about what they did where the film’s release did spark some controversy despite the international acclaim it would receive. Kemp also talks about the film and its narrative along with some of its irony as it concerns Kaji’s socialist views which would add to Kaji’s own downfall and disillusionment. It’s a very compelling essay that serves as a fine accompaniment to a towering trilogy.

The Human Condition trilogy is truly an outstanding achievement from Masaki Kobayashi that features a spectacular performance from Tatsuya Nakadai. While each film do stand out on their own, it is far more powerful and exhilarating as one entire piece thanks to a great ensemble cast and amazing technical work. It is also an intriguing study about humanity at a point in time where human kindness and decency are swayed away by something as senseless as war. In the end, The Human Condition trilogy is a magnificent trilogy of films by Masaki Kobayashi.

Masaki Kobayashi Films: (Black River) - Harakiri - Kwaidan - Samurai Rebellion - (Hymn to a Tired Man) - (The Fossil) - (Tokyo Trial)

© thevoid99 2015

Early Spring

Directed by Yasujiro Ozu and written by Ozu and Kogo Noda, Early Spring is the story of a married salary man who begins an extramarital affair with a co-worker to escape his monotonous life of marriage and work. The film is an exploration into the world of adultery as well as the trappings of marriage. Starring Ryo Ikebe, Keiko Kishi, and Chikage Awashima. Early Spring is a fascinating yet touching melodrama from Yasujiro Ozu.

The film is an exploration into the life of a married salary man who becomes bored by not just his life at work but also in his marriage which has lost its passion. Upon meeting a typist at the building he works at, the two begin an affair which they keep secret until gossiping among their co-workers and the suspicions of his wife begins to take its toll. It’s a film that explores not just a world that is changing but also attitudes where a man named Shoji Sugiyama (Ryo Ikebe) is a salary man who lives a pretty mundane life as his relationship with his wife Masako (Chikage Awashima) is still loving but seems to be lost as they’re still dealing with the death of their son several years ago. When Shoji chats with this young typist whom everyone call Goldfish (Keiko Kishi) during a hike with fellow co-workers. He finds someone he can talk to which leads to this affair.

The film’s screenplay explores not just the idea of extramarital affairs and marriage but also the world of being a salaried officer worker who does his job and gets paid. It plays into not just some of the constraints of postwar Japan where its economy starts to flourish but also the expectations that Shoji has to deal with. In his affair with Goldfish, he finds an escape in his work life and in his marriage yet he and Goldfish keep it a secret so that no one can gossip and such. Unfortunately, the gossip would emerge where Goldfish is confronted at a party while Masako keeps asking her husband why he’s been coming home late while he is also dealing with a friend (Junji Masuda) that is dying. The growing distance between Shoji and Masako becomes evident in the second act where Shoji comes home drunk with a couple of old friends who served the war with him as it would upset Masako. The third act would involve Masako knowing the truth but also the drawbacks of Shoji’s affair with Goldfish as it would affect his career and his life.

Yasujiro Ozu’s direction is mesmerizing not just in his simplicity but also in the way he captures a typical modern life in Japan where a lot of it is shot in Tokyo and suburbs nearby. While there are a few scenes and shots where Ozu moves the camera on a dolly shot such as the hike or a slow zoom at an office. Much of the direction has Ozu rely on his trademark, low-angle static shot where he would shoot much of the action that occurs throughout the film. Notably in the way he presents Tokyo and its nearby suburbs as this world that is becoming modern with relics of the past still around. Much of which has Ozu using a lot of wide and medium shots to present that world while maintaining an intimacy in the scenes between the actors where he would get them in one single short or a two-shot in a medium shot.

Much of the intimacy that Ozu creates play into the drama as he often has the camera right at the faces of the actors without the need of a close-up. It plays into a lot of the drama that occurs including the scenes where Shoji and Goldfish’s co-workers are eating in bars and such talking as Ozu has everyone in that room in the frame. Most notably the scene where Goldfish is being questioned by Shoji’s co-workers about their relationship where Ozu just has the camera be in place to see how Goldfish would react. Things become much wider in its scope in its full-frame presentation in the film’s third act to play into not just the decisions that Shoji has made but also the future that he will face as it’s one that he would have to deal with. Overall, Ozu creates a very rich yet compelling film about a man’s journey into adultery and its impact.

Cinematographer Yuharu Atsuta does excellent work with the film‘s black-and-white photography to capture the look of Tokyo in its emerging, modern setting as well as its use of lights for some of the scenes at the bar and at the home of Shoji and Masako. Editor Yoshiyasu Hamamura does nice work with the editing as it‘s mostly straightforward while emphasizing on a few rhythmic cuts for its dramatic moments. Art director Tatsuo Hamada and set decorator Kintaro Yamamoto do amazing work with the set pieces such as the home of Shoji and Masako as well as the place where Shoji and Goldfish work at.

Costume designer Yuji Nagashima does terrific work with the clothes where it is a mixture of traditional Japanese robes and casual clothes to play into the world of postwar Japan. The sound work of Yoshisaburo Senoo is superb for the natural approach to sound that is played throughout the film. The film’s music by Kojun Saito is just brilliant for its serene yet somber string-based score to play into some of the film’s melodrama with its emphasis on traditional Japanese string music as well as other pieces that is played in the background.

The film’s incredible cast includes some notable small performances from Haruko Sugimara as Masako’s mother, So Yamamura and Teiji Takahashi as a couple of Shoji’s co-workers, Junji Masuda as Shoji’s dying friend Miura, and Chishu Ryu as a widower that Shoji befriends who would later have Shoji face some truths about himself. Keiko Kishi is wonderful as the young typist Goldfish who has an exuberance that Shoji is attracted by as she is willing to keep their affair a secret until gossip starts to emerge. Ryo Ikebe is excellent as Shoji Sugiyama as this man feeling repressed by his environment at home and at work where he would engage into an affair only to question the decisions he’s made. Finally, there’s Chikage Awashima in a fantastic performance as Shoji’s wife Masako as this woman who is this representation of tradition as opposed to Goldfish’s more modern persona as a woman who becomes annoyed by her husband’s lateness and neglectfulness while dealing with some of the cracks that are emerging in her marriage.

Early Spring is a remarkable film from Yasujiro Ozu. Thanks to its cast and its sensitive approach to the themes of adultery and social oppression. It’s a film that is among one of Ozu’s quintessential films as well as the way he can create something so simply in a story that has huge questions about postwar Japan as it emerges into the modern world. In the end, Early Spring is a phenomenal film from Yasujiro Ozu.

Yasujiro Ozu Films: (Sword of Penitence) - (Days of Youth) - Tokyo Chorus - I Was Born, But... - (Dragnet Girl) - Passing Fancy - (A Mother Should Be Loved) - A Story of Floating Weeds - (An Inn in Tokyo) - (The Only Son) - (What Did the Lady Forget?) - (Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family) - (There Was a Father) - Record of a Tenement Gentleman - (A Hen in the Wind) - Late Spring - Early Summer - (The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice) - Tokyo Story - Tokyo Twilight - (Equinox Flower) - Good Morning - Floating Weeds - Late Autumn - The End of Summer - An Autumn Afternoon

© thevoid99 2013

Early Summer

Directed by Yasujiro Ozu and written by Ozu and Kogo Noda, Early Summer is the story about a woman who gets a visit from her uncle who thinks she should get married as her family tries to find a good prospect for her while she deals with issues in her own life. The film is an exploration into the changing ways in postwar Japan as well as the rise of women taking their own roles with their lives. Starring Setsuko Hara, Chishu Ryu, Chikage Awashima, and Kuniko Miyake. Early Summer is a glorious yet touching film from Yasujiro Ozu.

The film is about the life of a family living in suburban Tokyo where they all support each other when they get a visit from a relative. There, the man suggests that it’s time for his 28-year old niece Noriko (Setsuko Hara) to find herself a good husband as the family tries to find men who is worthy of her yet Noriko isn’t so sure about getting married. Even as she is a modern woman with friends who had gotten married but aren’t happy about it while times are also changing in Japan prompting the family to face reality of what is happening. It’s all set in a postwar Japan where the country is coming into its own again economically though the social traditions is still in tact. Yet, there’s this emerging sense of modernism that is prevalent where the ideas of tradition might fall by the wayside as Noriko is someone who represents this conflict as she wants to make her own decisions but doesn’t want to upset her parents and older brother Koichi (Chishu Ryu).

The film’s screenplay by Yasujiro Ozu and Kogo Noda take its time in the dynamic of this family where Noriko and her brother Koichi live in a home with their parents Shukichi and Shige (Ichiro Sugai and Chieko Higashiyama, respectively), Koichi’s wife Fumiko, and their sons Minoru (Zen Murase) and Isamu (Isao Shirosawa) as Noriko is a secretary and Koichi is a prominent physician. The visit from their uncle (Kokuten Kodo) who keeps asking about why Noriko isn’t married raises a lot of questions as Noriko is often asked by her boss Satake (Shuji Sano) about meeting a friend of his whom Koichi would see if he’s good enough for his sister. Yet, Noriko is confused as her friend Aya (Chikage Awashima) who is unmarried as she is also unsure if she wants to play into tradition. Then there’s Noriko and Koichi’s childhood friend Kenkichi Yabe (Hiroshi Nihonyanagi) who is a widower with a child as he lives with his mother (Haruko Sugimura) as he also helps out though he’s got moments in his life that is changing where it would also complicate things.

The script also revels in this world that is changing where Noriko’s parents are aware that having Noriko getting married would also cause a splinter in the family as they would live with Shukichi’s brother while Koichi and Fumiko would stay at the house with their kids. It would lead to this third act about the decision that Noriko would eventually make yet it becomes clear that it’s not going to be an easy one. Yet, her eventual decision doesn’t just play into this conflict about traditionalism and modernism but also about what Noriko wants in her life. Of course, the family’s reaction isn’t just mixed but also a bit shocking as they have no idea what to think but it’s also clear that there’s some things that traditionalism can’t deal with as times are changing.

Ozu’s direction is definitely wondrous in the way he captures the life of an ordinary family in Tokyo. Notably as it plays to that very evocative yet simplistic approach to the way he presents a scene. Much of it is shot in a single, static shot where the camera doesn’t move as it’s positioned in a wide or a medium shot to display what is going on in the scene. It all plays into this world that this family live in as there’s an intimacy that is prevalent throughout in some of light-hearted moments but also in some dramatic moments such as scene where Minoru and Isamo are upset that their father brought home a loaf of bread instead of the train tracks they wanted. Even in the way Ozu positions the camera for a dinner scene with Noriko, Aya, and their married friends is unique to showcase not just a sense of division that is emerging but the sense of the fact that times are changing.

Much of the way Ozu presents this conflict is told very subtly where he doesn’t do a lot of movements with the camera with the exception of a few dolly shots in a scene where Noriko’s parents are watching a play with Shukichi’s brother as well as a shot where Noriko and Fumiko are walking on the beach. Still, Ozu maintains something that is quite simple and poignant where he knows where to put the camera in a scene and to play out a certain reaction shot. Much of it has him not wanting to use a lot of close-ups by focusing more on a conversation scene as he knows where to put the actors into a frame. Especially for the film’s eventual scene where Noriko makes her decision as Ozu’s framing and the way he puts the actors into the frame becomes crucial for the film’s dramatic climax. Overall, Ozu crafts a very exhilarating yet engrossing film about a family dealing with changing times as well as dealing with a young woman’s future.

Cinematographer Yuharu Atsuta does excellent work with the film‘s black-and-white photography with the low-key look of the scenes at the beach and some of the daytime interior and exterior settings to the scenes set at night with lighting by Itsuo Takashita to help set the mood. Editor Yoshiyasu Hamamura does nice work with the editing where it‘s mostly straightforward to play out the drama and some of its humor while using fade-outs to help structure the film. Art director Tatsuo Hamada and set decorator Shotaro Hashimoto do amazing work with the set pieces such as the home the family lives in that is quite spacious but also quaint in its look.

Costume designer Taizo Saito does terrific work with the costumes as it‘s mostly straightforward with the exception of the robes that Noriko‘s parents wear. Sound recorder Yoshisaburo Seno does superb work with the sound to capture the intimacy of what goes on in the house as well as some of the scenes set in Tokyo and in the train stations. The film’s music by Senji Ito is just exquisite for its serene yet somber orchestral score to play into some of the drama without embellishing it as it is one of the film’s major highlights.

The film’s brilliant cast includes some notable small yet effective performances from Haruko Sugimura as Kenkichi’s mother who ponders about her son’s life as he is still a widower, Shuji Sano as Noriko’s boss Satake who suggests to Noriko about meeting a friend of his as a potential prospect, Kokuten Kodo as Shukichi’s brother who brings up the subject of marriage, and Chikage Awashima as Noriko’s friend Aya who ponders about the idea of marriage as she isn’t sure after learning from friends on the downside of it. Zen Maruse and Isao Shirosawa are terrific as Koichi and Fumiko’s young sons Minoru and Isamu, respectively, as they’re two boys obsessed with trains as they test the patience of their elders. Hiroshi Nihonyanagi is excellent as Koichi and Noriko’s childhood friend Kenkichi as a fellow doctor who helps the family with some problems while dealing with his own circumstances in his career.

Ichiro Sugai and Chieko Higashiyama are amazing as Noriko and Koichi’s parents in Shukichi and Shige, respectively, as they carry a sense of warmth and wisdom as two parents who want what’s best for Noriko while dealing with the fact that times are changing as it would play into Noriko’s eventual decision. Kuniko Miyake is wonderful as Koichi’s wife Fumiko as the observer of sorts in the family as she also voices her opinion on a few things while wondering the effect of Noriko’s eventual decision. Chishu Ryu is fantastic as Noriko’s older brother Koichi as a doctor who tries to see if the prospect that Satake suggests is any good while dealing with his own family as well as up holding a sense of tradition in that family. Finally, there’s Setsuko Hara in an incredible performance as Noriko as a 28-year old woman dealing with the ideas of old and new ideas as she is eager to make her own decision but wants to respect the wishes of her family as it’s a truly mesmerizing performance for the actress.

Early Summer is a majestic film from Yasujiro Ozu. Thanks to its cast and touching portrait of a family going through changing times while finding a prospective husband for their daughter. It’s a film that is truly engaging for the way it explores tradition clashing with modernism as well as the life of a family that is truly universal for an audience to relate to. In the end, Early Summer is a remarkable film from Yasujiro Ozu.

Yasujiro Ozu Films: (Sword of Penitence) - (Days of Youth) - Tokyo Chorus - I Was Born, But... - (Dragnet Girl) - Passing Fancy - (A Mother Should Be Loved) - A Story of Floating Weeds - (An Inn in Tokyo) - (The Only Son) - (What Did the Lady Forget?) - (Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family) - (There Was a Father) - Record of a Tenement Gentleman - (A Hen in the Wind) - Late Spring - (The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice) - Tokyo Story - Early Spring - Tokyo Twilight - (Equinox Flower) - Good Morning - Floating Weeds - Late Autumn - The End of Summer - An Autumn Afternoon

© thevoid99 2013