An Autumn Afternoon: A Fond Farewell
by Sep 29, 2008It was never, of course, Yasujiro Ozu’s intention that An Autumn Afternoon (1962) should be the final film of his thirty-five-year career as a writer-director...
Synopsis
Yasujiro Ozu’s final film was also his final masterpiece, the gently heartbreaking story of a man’s dignified resignation to both life’s ever-shifting currents and society’s gradual modernization. Though widower Shuhei Hirayama (Ozu’s frequent leading man Chishu Ryu) has been living comfortably for years with his grown daughter, a series of events leads him to accept and encourage her marriage and departure. As elegantly composed and achingly tender as any of the Japanese master’s films, An Autumn Afternoon (Sanma no aji) is one of cinema’s fondest farewells.
Cast
| Michiko Hirayama | Shima Iwashita |
| Shuhei Hirayama | Chishu Ryu |
| Koichi | Keiji Sata |
| Akiko | Mariko Okada |
| Kazuo | Shinichiro Mikami |
| Yutaka Miura | Teruo Yoshida |
| Fusako Taguchi | Noriko Maki |
| Shuzo Kawai | Nobuo Nakamura |
| Nobuko | Kuniko Miyake |
| Sakuma, the "Gourd" | Eijiro Tono |
| Tomoko | Haruko Sugimura |
Credits
| Director | Yasujiro Ozu |
| Screenplay | Yasujiro Ozu and Kogo Noda |
| Cinematography | Yuharu Atsuta |
| Art director | Tatsuo Hamada |
| Music coordinator | Kojun Saito |
| Lighting | Kenzo Ishiwatari |
| Editing | Yoshiyasu Hamamura |
Disc Features
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- New audio commentary featuring film scholar David Bordwell, author of Ozu and the Poetics of Cinema
- Excerpts from “Yasujiro Ozu and The Taste of Sake,” a 1978 French television program looking back on Ozu’s career, featuring critics Michel Ciment and Georges Perec
- Theatrical trailer
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring new essays by film critic Geoff Andrew and film scholar Donald Richie
From the Current
An Autumn Afternoon: Ozu’s Diaries
by Sep 29, 2008After Ozu died on his sixtieth birthday, December 12, 1963, some thirty-two diaries were discovered. They were from 1933 to 1963, and though a few years were missing, they offer a commentary on the life of the director and reveal something of his personality.Perhaps disappointingly...
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