thinbeach Noriko is a shy 27 year old woman who has recently overcome an untold medical condition. Now better, it is the strong desire of her father and aunt that she be married before its too late, but Nori appears to have lead a sheltered life, and is completely attached to her single father - she is happy with the life she is living and has no desire to change. Only when her father becomes interested in remarrying himself, does Nori accept her fate as a future wife.In many ways this is a coming of age story from girl to woman, the challenging but inevitable separation from child and parent, albeit happening some five to ten years later in life than modern audiences might expect. As a modern Western viewer I can only take the films word for it that a daughter may really have been so attached to her father in this manner (she appears to have neither any sexual nor motherly desires of her own - hard to believe at 27 - or if she does, they remain completely unselfishly suppressed), and therefore required a suspension of disbelief that may or may not have been required by viewers from other cultures, in other times. In typical understated Ozu style it is located in suburban Japan, and is very conversational. The power of this style is captured subtly - in the way momentous life shifts can spring from mundane circumstances. It has a very pleasant, elegant air for the duration, and is beautifully shot, but I would argue that until the final act, "Late Spring" is too conversational, too mundane, and often largely unmoving. When the surprising twist occurs, in which the self-sacrifice of the father for the sake of his daughter can be fully appreciated, it is a gut wrenching testament to the true power of family love. The sublime ending of "Late Spring" makes it worthwhile viewing, though it certainly would have benefited from getting there quicker - not in pacing, which was assured in an unhurried manner - but in content, which became a touch repetitious (quite a few scenes in the first two- thirds are insignificant). The scene mid way through in which Nori and her father attend the Noh (classical Japanese musical drama) is also sublime - an expertly crafted display of devastating emotions that can't be expressed in a public space. Six minutes where not a word is uttered, and not a word is needed.

WILLIAM FLANIGAN Viewed on DVD. Restoration = six (6) stars. This movie can be an acquired taste, but the viewer must be extremely patient during the acquisition process! Overly long due to interior/exterior visual padding and foot-dragging direction, it nonetheless exhibits: some fine acting from many contemporaneously well-known actors and actresses; a well constructed script with many red herrings, twists, turns, and moments of great dialog (plus a phantom major character); plenty of location shots (including the Kiyomizu-Dera Temple and the stone garden at Ryoan-Ji in Kyoto which pretty much look the same today); good sound; and clearly-enunciated line readings. Subtitles are right sized. Except for an occasional pan of sea waves or fields, cinematography is spot-on static. All action occurs within the frame (like viewing a stage play). Even for close-ups on bikes! However, camera placements are imaginative and lighting is well done. On occasion, the director films the backs of speaking actors when the viewer would expect expressive frontal shots. This "back acting" is interesting, but a bit disconcerting (especially when a back-acting shot is immediately followed by a duplicate front-acting one). Music lacks imagination in composition and film placement. It is monotonous (there is essentially only one Leif motif played over and over) and often inserted into the sound track in an amateurish manner. The serene, apparently economically-secure, middle-class society depicted here did not yet exist, and seems to have been offered up by the director as a proper modern and attainable objective (which was reached by Japan in an incredibly short time thereafter!). Semi-restoration leaves behind wear lines, frame jitters (especially during the opening credits), and age-related deterioration during dark scenes. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.

Sergeant_Tibbs In doing my They Shoot Pictures top 1000 films quest, I definitely have a lot of Ozu ahead of me and with Late Spring and Tokyo Story already standing strong as worthy classics, I have confidence he'll be a favourite. The beauty in his filmmaking is in the simplicity. Late Spring delivers the message of "happiness being what you make it" that can become trite in contemporary cinema but the complexity comes from the definitions of "happiness" and how its made. Although some of the power of the film is lost as gender role culture has now transformed to different needs, it's still very interesting if difficult to personally connect to. It's in the way you can see the frustration boil behind the protagonist's beaming smile that gives it a layer of depth due to the fascinating acting. Unlike much of Japanese cinema, which includes greats such as Kurosawa and Miyazaki, Spring's pacing is much breezier and less rigid in the structure which definitely gives it an edge over other Japanese films as that is my main pet peeve in Anime. The highlight is the cinematography which is perhaps even better than the photography of Tokyo Story. Ozu has a fine taste in angles and he truly makes the domestic environment cinematic. The only question I feel is left unresolved is the ending. The final note leaves us with a lie making two people potentially unhappy as they're apart but their actions conform to traditions. It's difficult to tell if this is supposed to be the desired result of this situation or if it's meant to be deliberately bittersweet. But maybe with an ending like that, Late Spring will stick with me more. Excellent film.8/10

billzet2 I saw Late Spring a few days ago, ( May 2013).. very moving and supports what little I know about post war Japan; I was in Tokyo with MacArthur's GHQ in 1946-7.Two troublesome points.:One character attends a violin recital by Mori Iwamoto, who was a prodigy., born in1926.A bulletin board at the recital hall has the date 4-26-13,assuming the 13 refers to Showa(Hirohito), year 13 is our 1938. But the film is 1949.Next Noriko and her father visit a Temple in Kyoto, and her father remarks on how beautiful" Kodai-ji " is. But the film shows them at "Kiyomizu-dera", another Temple in Kyoto.How can mistakes like this be made? Can we blame the censors? or the editors ?