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Early Summer - Criterion Collection Director: Yasujiro Ozu Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Academy Ratio Format: Black & White Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Running Time: 125 minutes Studio: Criterion Collection Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2004-07-20 Buy from Amazon |
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From Amazon.com Like any of Yasujiro Ozu's best-known films, Early Summer is a marvel of cinematic simplicity, revealing layers of depth through multiple viewings. It may seem at first that Ozu's family tale is too simple, but looks are deceiving, and closer study reveals an intensely structured, highly formalized example of Ozu's transcendental realism, focusing on the dilemma of 28-year-old Noriko (played by the immensely popular Setsuko Hara), whose late-breaking decision to marry sends unexpected shock waves through three generations of her close-knit family. While providing a vivid portrait of liberated womanhood in post-war Japan, this lighthearted yet quietly devastating drama also serves as a gentle study of tradition vs. modernity, and a clash between conformity and independence. It's also a triumph of DVD-as-film-school: As he did for Criterion's release of A Story of Floating Weeds, the distinguished scholar Donald Richie provides an eloquent full-length commentary as valuable as the film itself, thoroughly exploring the purpose of Ozu's low-angle style, the influence of Ernst Lubitsch, the importance of Setsuko as a role model for Japanese girls, stylistic comparison to Jane Austen's fiction, and a variety of other relevant topics. "Ozu's Films from Behind the Scenes" gathers three of Ozu's longtime collaborators for affectionate reminiscence, and mini-essays by Ozu expert David Bordwell and long-time Ozu admirer Jim Jarmusch lend further appreciation from critical and personal perspectives. This is Criterion's fifth Ozu release on DVD, and like the others, it's highly recommended. --Jeff Shannon From Description A nuanced examination of a family falling apart, Early Summer tells the story of the Mamiya family and their efforts to marry off their headstrong daughter, Noriko, played by the extraordinary Setsuko Hara. A seemingly simple story, it is among the director's most emotionally complex. The Criterion Collection is proud to present one of Ozu's most enduring classics. |
 "A great film by Yasujiro Ozu"This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film. "Early Summer" known in Japan as "Bakushu" is one of Yasujiro Ozu's best known films. The film is about the life of an extended family life in postwar Japan. The parents are trying to convince their adult daughter to get married. Their son and grandchildren are also living with them. The film is a very nice release and has some great scenes. The film was very popular in Japan at the time of release and remaind popular worldwide to this day. The special features on the DVD are a theatrical trailer, audio commentary by Donald Richie, and a behind the scenes documentary about the film's production. This is a must buy for anyone interested in classic Japanese films  "A BEAUTIFUL EXPERIENCE!"Yasujiro Ozu's "Early Summer" is a fine film full of passionate performances and emotional storytelling about one family, and how one decision changes their lives forever. The beautiful Setsuko Hara gives a fine performance as Noriko. Her performance is breathtaking, and she is given a strong supporting cast to work with. The film's dazzling cinematography captures both the striking interiors and the dazzling beauty of the Japanese landscape. While it isn't the greatest film experience of all time, it is a beautifully realized motion picture that every person should view at least once. Movie/DVD Grade: A- "Comically Shrewd Ozu Classic on the Liberated Japanese Woman"Having just enjoyed the quiet brilliance of Yasujiro Ozu's "Tokyo Monogatari (Tokyo Story)" for the first time last week, I was immediately drawn to another Ozu film released by the Criterion Collection last year, 1951's "Bakushû (Early Summer)". Both movies are part of his classic Noriko trilogy which uses many of the same actors playing characters with the same names but in different roles. Consequently, the great Setsuko Hara portrays a young woman named Noriko in both movies, but this time, she is the liberated daughter (rather than the forlorn daughter-in-law) and also the focal point of the story (rather than the aged parents in "Tokyo Story"). The musical chairs continue with Chishu Ryu playing his real age as Noriko's strong-willed brother Koichi (rather than the resigned grandfather) and Haruko Sugimura playing older as neighbor Tomi, the mother of Noriko's prospective fiancée (versus the conniving daughter Shige). Chieko Higashiyama still plays the grandmother, but her name is not Tomi but Shige, and her husband Shukishi is portrayed by Ichirô Sugai. It's only confusing if you are looking for some kind of plot continuity between the films, but Ozu is primarily interested in reinforcing similar themes of the evolving family unit in post-WWII Japan. This time, he does it in a more comic, sometimes even ribald fashion, and while it doesn't resonate quite as deeply as "Tokyo Story", "Early Summer" is full of Ozu's shrewd observations and insights that make it emotionally affecting, especially as the story takes a surprise turn toward the end. The story here centers on the Mamiya family, who are trying to find a suitable husband for 28-year old single daughter Noriko. As typical in Japanese culture, several generations live together under one roof, and a frequent subject of conversation is Noriko's lack of a husband. However, she is a member of the new postwar breed of Japanese women. She dresses almost exclusively in Western clothes and holds down an administrative position in an office in the heart of Tokyo. In spirit, Noriko bears a strong resemblance to Elizabeth Bennett in Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", a point raised by film historian Donald Richie on his informative commentary. She loves to go to dinner with her girlfriends. Of the four friends, two are married and two are unmarried. In a particularly amusing scene, the four have a spirited debate about the pros and cons of married life versus single life. Noriko is happy with her life as it is and doesn't seem to be too concerned with changing it anytime soon. Nonetheless, the family attempts to fix Noriko up with a successful, 40-year old business associate of her boss. Although polite about the matchmaking effort, she becomes more interested in her neighbor, an old classmate now widowed and left alone with a small daughter and his mother. Noriko prefers that her potential husband is an old friend and that they will slip into their new romantic relationship more easily than two complete strangers. The bigger problem, though, is that she makes her decision without consulting with her family and that's where the familial conflict arises. Hara continues to be a revelation to me, a beautiful, charismatic actress who radiates goodness and a sense of cunning mischief that is entrancing. The supporting performances are excellent with Sugimura again a standout in a surprising turn as the mother grateful to Noriko for her decision to marry her son Kenkichi. Kuniko Miyake has a bigger, more dimensional role here than in "Tokyo Story", playing yet again the brother's wife Fumiko. She and Hara have a particularly lovely scene on the beach at the end of the film, and the two have a pretty funny scene where they hide their clandestine cake slices from the somnambulant child. Chikage Awashima portrays Noriko's best friend Aya with feisty charm, goading Noriko to see the man she passed up, impersonating a country bumpkin to preview Noriko's new married life and trading innuendo-heavy barbs with Noriko's politically incorrect boss. This latter interchange is surprisingly adult for 1951, as they even joke that Noriko may be a lesbian for waiting so long to get married. The children play more prominent roles here, and Ozu really plays up their bratty insubordination as they hurl inappropriate epithets when they don't get their way, though their running away from home is the catalyst for Noriko to become attracted to Kenkichi. Yuuharu Atsuta provides the beautiful cinematography, which is gratefully captured in a fairly pristine print of the film, though I have to believe Ozu is the one most responsible for the simple yet powerful scene compositions. His now familiar low-to-the ground camera angles are used consistently in the film to replicate the perspective of someone sitting on a tatami mat. Lighter and more loosely structured than "Tokyo Story", "Early Summer" is essential viewing for Ozu aficionados and anyone interested in post-WWII Japanese society. Along with Richie's thorough commentary, the DVD package also includes a 47-minute documentary, "Ozu's Films From Behind the Scenes", which includes a table discussion with Ozu's longtime cameraman Takashi Kawamata, his sound and editing assistant Kojiro Suematsu and producer Shizuo Yamanouchi who produced six Ozu films. "Another stunning criterion release!"Early Summer has moments of supreme excellence that rival Ozu's best films ('tokyo story' and 'floating weeds' also released by criterion are two of them). There are some very memorable shots as well as Ozu's fine cast of stock actors - performing another touching family story. The central theme of the film is marriage - but it also seems to deal with changes in life - and eventually leads to a sort of falling apart taking place within a family structure - and perhaps a larger societal structure. Ozu's films are modern and yet classical - as many have said - embracing an almost theatrical style - interspersed with interesting camera shots - that help the viewer to meditate on the film - and life itself. Early Summer is perhaps not as sad as 'Tokyo Story' but it is an equally poignant account of Japanese life - and comments on the constant battle between generations. "Brilliant Japanese Generational Drama!!!"Early Summer is set in post-war Japan where three generations of the Mamiya family share space under the same roof. The film opens intriguingly with a regular morning with symbolic shots of the Mamiya house with singing birds in birdcages and the morning duties of the family which suggests the natural rang order of the family. These two cinematic elements play a big role in the overall cinematic experience as it refers to duty, tradition, and other values of a Japanese family. The Mamiya's are the middle of a generational crisis influenced by peers, new cultures, and the aftermath of a war, which will have a significant effect on old Japanese traditions and values. The story is focused on Noriko, a 28-year-old daughter, who the rest of the family is lightheartedly implying is one of those women that never wants to get married. Yet, the notion that Noriko will not get married is worrisome for the Mamiya family as it is tradition to marry and the older she gets the harder it will be for her to find a suitable husband that the family will approve of. The approval of the family is crucial as it will reflect on the parents position in the society as it is important to marry someone of higher status. Noriko is also a woman of her time as she changes with the times and has a job that helps support the family. Her independence is considered by family members as disrespectful towards the old traditions, and it also worries the family. Despite what others think Noriko wanders her own way with a good spirit, which seems to reflect upon those around her. Osu created a brilliant film when he worked on Early Summer in the early 50s as he captures the societal changes within Japan through one single family. The changes that Ozu presents are sincere as they are not always pleasant, yet the changes will help the people grow in several different ways. It is within the change that the key to the story rests as it presents a thick fabric of artistry with numerous thoughts that will hopefully open several doors to debate. Early Summer is a cinematic event of historical proportions that will remain influential for many years to come. |
