Formerly "A Movie A Day" :/

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Late Spring - 1949 - Dir. Ozu

It's a pretty run of the mill Ozu film. Like with many of his other films, I always get the impression that I've seen it before. They're always very satisfying to watch, calming almost, so I don't think I really mind familiar feelings. I guess, it's tricky because the topics of his films often overlap. Late Spring is about a daughter who is perfectly happy caring for her widowed father and planning on becoming an Old Maid in a sense. Her Father, wants her to get hitched, even though it'll leave him on his own. It features my two favorite Ozu actors, Setsuko Hara and Chishu Ryu. It felt like it leaned more towards the serious spectrum of his films. That's not to say he goes around making comedies or anything but they can be light-hearted sometimes. This one, not so much. Anyway, I'm always impressed as to how he can make the simplest stories so watchable... and enjoyable. I rarely find myself impatiently looking at the running time. I feel like he set his pace very clearly, very deliberately. So there's little confusion as to the speed in which the movie will go. It's a good film. Solid Ozu. There's certainly better ones out there but if you have a thirst for Ozu, this will certainly quench it... that or Gatorade (The joke is that Gatorade will make you feel like you just watched mid-twentieth century Japanese cinema).

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJZXfvFF7K0l-9iYAoFWvPzQ529iP6jDObXzsUysRvZP6SWhHRnXKB4DH17ppjFGfxkI8rIqFE1v1UIP1hOJ0LeA94WaXGFLVxGn-JSweJAEnOLeyOKJ00ISZgIIBdAx5I_H63yf4LqUU/s1600/late+spring.jpg
Setsuko Hara friggin LOVES making that expression.

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