Mono no aware

Ozu's distinctive style is beautiful to watch if you enjoy slow paced films. This is a very moving story of a father and daughter relationship- full of understated emotions.

A quiet struggle between traditionalism and postwar liberal feminism. Interesting in that Ozu avoids persecuting any of his characters, no one is presented as 'right' or 'wrong.' It's unique how he captures such a leisurely, fleeting tone. His painterly eye for seasonal landscapes certainly helps.

A very fine film by Ozu on the usual subject of fathers and marriageable daughters. The relationship between the two--subtly played by Chishu Ryu and Setsuko Haro--is passionate and heartbreaking.

195

Very serene and (of course) understated. Ozu loves his domestic drama and this is done very well. I really like both Chishu Ryu and Setsuko Hara, so that's a big part of the appeal here, and they do a great job of portraying the father-daughter relationship. Late Spring is concerned with how people shoehorn others (and are themselves shoehorned into) societal roles, and Ozu deals with the theme in a graceful and subtle manner.

Rather slow and simple concept, but the ending is so beautiful and actually very sad too, I was almost crying!

Wonderful movie that displays the psyche of postwar Japan and explores the father-daughter relationship while giving insight into the nature of arranged marriage as well as relationships in general. Pacing is slow by today's standards, but stick with it and take the time to develop a connection with the characters.

#195

Another vote for "Favourite Ozu so far" here. Everything is done so methodical and deliberate, there are no wasted scenes let alone wasted moments. Setsuko Hara is great, but Chishu Ryu is magnificent -- his final scene peeling the apple was so beautiful that I had difficulty catching my breath afterward.

The last scene, without a single line of dialogue, has more emotion than you will find in a dozen other films. I feel like I just took a bitter sweet walk through a few people's lives rather than having just watched a film.

An utterly beautiful film which touches upon two issues - the relationship between parents and their children, and feminine roles both in post-war Japan and universally - perfectly in a single story. Add to this Ozu's acute use of mise-en-scene (such as a close-up of a pile of collapsing magazines at the emotional shift in the film) and his sympathy for all the characters, despite the potential issues with their actions, and the film is an even greater accomplishment.

It's a very good Ozu film but for some reason it didn't engage me the way his other films have. There's nothing wrong with it, the acting is good, the story is interesting enough and it deals with the issues it does in a very human way. I just felt like he did all this better in his later films.

# 166

Favorite Ozu so far. It isn't really that different from any of the other films of his that I've seen so far, but somehow it feels more natural, more true, more meaningful, less tedious, and so on. It may be a simple matter of familiarity with his style. This time around I didn't even notice any of his typical quirks, such as the lack of camera movement and the whole 180 degree line issue in his dialogue scenes. It all feels very natural to me now.

Pretty much on par with Early Summer, which it's awfully similar to. I listened to the commentary for a bit, and the guy was saying that within his limited scope, Ozu covers the whole of human experience. Well, no, he doesn't. But he covers certain parts of it very, very well. For me, a lot of the appeal is Setsuko Hara. She's mostly the same character in every film I've seen her in, but she fills that niche perfectly. She's also got one of the most disarming smiles I've ever seen

Once you get into Ozu's style, you realize this is one of his finest movies. It's so simple, traditional, that I couldn't understand it's value at my first watch (about one year ago). Now, every detail is superb, the final minutes are full of sincere emotion, instead of those fake, exaggerated feelings shown on most of familiar dramas.

Sincerity.

190