Ozu - Vol. 1 details
| Format: | PG DVD |
|---|---|
| Starring: | Chishu Ryu, Setsuko Hara, Chieko Higashiyama |
| Director: | Yasujiro Ozu |
| Genres: | Drama - Crime, General, World Cinema - African |
| Studio: | PALISADES TARTAN |
| Name | Discs | |
|---|---|---|
Tokyo Story |
PG Disc 1 | |
Late Spring |
PG Disc 2 | |
Early Summer |
PG Disc 3 |
DVD Information
| Run time: | 6 hours 10 minutes |
|---|---|
| Rental release: | 06 Dec 2004 |
| Main languages: | Japanese |
| Subtitles: | English |
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Most helpful review
Poignant story of a father and daughter.
By Jennifer Carruthers from Gloucestershire, England , 16 Feb 2005[Highly rated reviewer]
Yasujiro Ozu was fascinated by the effect of change in the lives of ordinary people. The Noriko trilogy is films devoted to this subject, comprising Late Spring (1949), Early Summer (1951) and Tokyo Story (1953). Tokyo Story is the best known. However Late Spring (1972) is arguably an even more moving piece; the emotionally charged story of a Father (Chishu Ryu) and Daughter (Setsuko Hara) coming to terms with a future apart. Its greatness is held in the simplicity of this study of family life, retaining relevance even today.
The film never slips into sentimentality, remaining firmly in Ozu?s characteristic ?sympathetic sadness?. The performances are understated but magnificent, especially Hara as the daughter torn between her comfortable home life and the expectations of the world around her. The scene at the Noh theatre where she first sees her fathers intended wife is a masterpiece in itself.- Was this review helpful to you?
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All reviews
(53)Superb, poignant film. Highly recommend.
By a customer from Bideford , 15 Mar 2011This is a humane, poignant and beautiful film.
An elderly couple travel a long way from their village to visit their grown-up children in Tokyo.
They see in their children only good and are proud of their successes.
Their adult children however, are seen as selfish, with little time for their parents - their parents are seen as an inconvenient interruption in their busy lives.
The only real kindness shown them is from the young woman who was married to one of their sons who died - although not 'blood' family she shows them love and consideration.
Their own children care little until it is too late - and even death is an unwelcome interruption to their routines.
It is a sad reflection of the rifts which can develop between generations - this film was made in the 1950's - nothing changes.
The other film is equally good and on a very similar theme.
When a wealthy Japanese businessman dies at age 69 - it is found that he has left the family deeply in debt. Their large estate has to be sold to settle the debts.
His widow and youngest daughter are left at the mercy of his other daughters and are unwelcome guests in their houses.
Only their son, who travels to China to work and returns to find the humiliation his mother and sister are experiencing has the humanity and courage to confront the other members of his family.
These are universal themes, beautifully filmed and with great compassion.
I would highly recommend watching them - they are very great examples of the film-makers art.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Enjoyable period film
By a customer from london , 11 Feb 2011Not action packed but a very interesting period film which despite being low key is very enjoyable and also interesting to see life in post war japan- Was this review helpful to you?
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Slow but True
By FGRTommo (26 reviews) from Stroud , 01 Dec 2010At one level very little happens. At another this is marking a huge sea change that occurred in many lives as the generations and the relationships between them have shifted in recent decades. And the final set pieces back at the parents home are very moving.
Wonderful photography shines through despite the graininess and the imaginative shooting from knee level emphasised the Japanese culture of spending so much time sitting down.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Yasujiro Ozu
By Nigel Wilson from Helmsley, North Riding of Yorkshire , 27 Oct 2010An intelligent review would be painfully long; these are great films - how did I miss them for the last 50 years or so? Never mind poor quality in the copies, the images and camera work are sharp, exact and effective. More to the point, they are fascinating - slow, apparently boring at first, but increasingly gripping and engaging.
Points:
- a close and delicate view of Japanese cultrure - strikingly human and humane;
- then, this is Japan before and after the war, but throughout caught in the contrast between shifting traditional and modern industrial culture - sharply, but unemphatically and very effectively shown in cutting between contrasting scenes;
- black and white? despite its tendency to distance and distract, Ozu could have made good use of colour - but, no need, though for instance the gathering of family ladies at its beginning and the Noh play in 'Late Spring' would have been a gift.
I sometimes wonder if it would be good to see some of this more intimate type of film made partly in black and white, but with colour where it tells, outside the concentrated message of the narrative. (Accidentally, of course, you get something like that where Eisenstein had a scrap of colour stock to use in Ivan the Terrible.)
The 1936 'Only Son' is an especially strong example of Ozu's essential presentation of patience, disappointment and acceptance - real tear jerker, if you want to look at it like that. A deep human attitude characterising in all his films that I have seen.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Sad but true
By OldTom (49 reviews) from Berkhamsted , 27 Sep 2010This is reckoned to be Ozu’s “best” film. It’s certainly more “incident-packed” than some others I’ve seen. Everything is relative! The camera actually pans across the scene for all of ten feet in one shot - amazing! But of course none of the incidents actually appear on the screen - this is Ozu, after all,
It’s a beautiful film, and very moving, in the way that his films are, but it’s a bit too sad for it to be my personal favourite Ozu film. That remains “The Flavour of Green Tea Over Rice.”- Was this review helpful to you?
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