Film Still

Late Spring

Yasujiro Ozu

Japan

1949

108 minutes

Black and White

1.33:1

Japanese

331

Synopsis

One of the most powerful of Yasujiro Ozu’s family portraits, Late Spring tells the story of a widowed father who feels compelled to marry off his beloved only daughter. Eminent Ozu players Chishu Ryu and Setsuko Hara command this poignant tale of love and loss in postwar Japan, which remains as potent today as ever—almost alone justifying Ozu’s inclusion in the pantheon of cinema’s greatest directors.

Cast

Shukichi Somiya Chishu Ryu
Noriko SomiyaSetsuko Hara
Aya Kitagawa Yumeji Tsukioka
Masa Taguchi Haruko Sugimura
KasuyochiHohi Aoki

Credits

DirectorYasujiro Ozu
ScreenplayYasujiro Ozu and Kogo Noda
From the novel byKazuo Hirotsu
CinematographyYuuharu Atsuta
MusicSenji Ito
Art directorTatsuo Hamada

Disc Features

SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET:

  • New, restored high-definition digital transfer
  • Tokyo-Ga (1985, 92 mins), legendary director Wim Wenders’ tribute to Yasujiro Ozu
  • Audio commentary by Richard Peña, program director of New York’s Film Society of Lincoln Center
  • A booklet featuring new essays by critic Michael Atkinson and renowned Japanese-film historian Donald Richie
  • New and improved English subtitle translation

From the Current

Late Spring: Home with Ozu

by Michael Atkinson May 8, 2006

Maybe it is something to do with the sensual seductiveness of cinema: as new-millennium Americans, we care nothing for Japanese poetry, little for Japanese painting and fiction, and certainly too much for Japanese cartoons, and yet Yasujiro Ozu, the least sensational filmmaker of all time, remains...

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Available Editions

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DVD

2 Discs

SRP: $39.95

Criterion Store price

$31.96