The End Of Summer Details

flawed but worthy

Interesting portrait of a family as their father seems to be close to death. Not as strong as Tokyo Story but worth seeing.

[Highly rated reviewer]

The end of many things

Somehow, Ozu in colour is never quite as convincing as Ozu in black and white, and here, in his penultimate film, he is further hampered by a diffuse screenplay that tries to tell too many stories. Overarching them all is the fear that the family's sake-brewing business is about to be sucked under and forced into a merger, but within that we have the increasingly disconnected father, who now finds more succour with an old mistress (who has a grasping daughter who may not be his, despite their claims); and two daughters, both being manoeuvred towards marriage, slightly against their wills. The beauty and precision of the observation is still present and correct, and the acting is sublime (the great Setsuko Hara as the eldest daughter in particular, but also Ganjiro Nakabura as dad); the focus, however, is lacking, as if Ozu himself can't quite find his way into the story he's chosen to tell. 'The end of summer' remains an opaque film, albeit one quite likely to entrance a patient audience.