AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Micransix Crappy film

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Harry T. Yung The "Noriko Trilogy", as some call it, comprises arguably Ozu's three best known films "Late Spring" (1949), "Early Summer" (1951) and "Tokyo Story" (1953), all with a key character (in some case THE key character) named Noriko."Tokyo Story" was first introduced to the Western world nine years after Yasujiro Ozu's (1903-1963) death, as both the late Roger Ebert and the New York Times film critic (not sure if his name means much to today's movie fans, or whether he is "the late" or not) sounded a little embarrassed and apologetic in their respective reviews published in 1972. Today, "Tokyo Story" has a place in any all-time top ten list anywhere in the world.The three Norikos, all played by Japan's eternal screen goddess Setsuko Hara (1920-2015, living a long life but resolutely left the movie industry soon after her mentor Ozu's death), are very different characters. Noriko in "Tokyo Story" is a widow. The Norikos in "Late Spring" and "Early Summer" superficially appear to be quite similar in being a daughter at the age to be married off (some likens the plot line to Jane Austin's). They are however very different. As I watched the Noriko Trilogy backwards chronologically, I am going to focus on "Late Spring" which I watched just recently. For background to facilitate comparison, here is my IMDb posting on "Early Summer":http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043313/reviews-27 "Late Spring" is very much the intimate story between father and daughter, and immediately brings to mind more recent works such as "Poppoya" (1999) (where Ryoko Hirosue and Ken Takakura play daughter and father), "Hana to Airsu" (2004) and "Flowers" (2010). In the latter two, the father-and-daughter story plays only a small part in the multi-plot-line film. In both, the daughter is portrayed by Yu Aoi, who also plays Noriko in "Tokyo Family" (2013), Yoji Yamada's remake of "Tokyo Story" in tribute to Ozu. In "Toyko Family" however, Noriko is an entirely different character, but Yamada cleverly attributed some of the dialogues of the original Noriko to her.Enough (too much, in fact) background. With apologies, I shall now really focus on "Late Spring". In Ozu's unhurried pace, we see the gentle, blissful life of Noriko and her widower father, an academic, in which her remaining unmarried is just a minor issue. Her father's gentle nudge is laughed away when she tells him that this potential perfect candidate, a student of his that is on very friendly terms with her, is in fact engaged to be married soon to another woman. As well, her buddy, a recent divorcée, seems to be a perfect argument for Noriko that marriages are not made in heaven.Then, dark undercurrents gradually surfaces in the father's apparent intention to remarry. Noriko's reaction, not in words but in facial expression, is bitter. This development, in any event, has the effect of having her argument for not marrying swept from under her feet. The bridegroom, by all accounts (he never materializes on screen) is a heaven-sent match. The final revelation (to the audience only) is that the father lied to her to make sure that she does not sacrifice her life and happiness caring for him. The closing scene is much talked about: the father alone in the house, peeling an apple for himself.I don't think written words can do justice to the richness and depth of emotions carried by Ozu's minimalist style.

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.

gavin6942 Noriko (Setsuko Hara) is twenty-seven years old and still living with her widowed father (Chishu Ryu). Everybody tries to talk her into marrying, but Noriko wants to stay at home caring for her father.So, this is the first part of the so-called "Noriko trilogy", and I suppose most people would argue that part three is the best. At least, it is the most well-known: "Tokyo Story". But this one had more resonance with me. I loved the cinematography, and I quite enjoyed the Noriko portrayed by Setsuo Hara this time around.The American occupation was also an interesting touch. Ozu could easily have worked around it, making this a purely Japanese film. But he chose to have Coca-Cola signs and other things suggesting an American presence, even if no American is ever seen.

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 ?