Name: Early Spring (1956)
Cast: Ryô Ikebe, Teiji Takahashi

Hoezo in KINO

We’re screening 4 films by of one of the greatest (Japanese) filmmakers: Yasujiro Ozu. Ozu had his own visual language and themes, many of his films deal with the lives of middle class families in changing times and are shot in traditional Japanese houses, using low-angle shots at eye-level with immaculate compositions. The films made in the post-war era are widely regarded as his best. We will be screening four films from this era with English subtitles: The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice (1952), Tokyo Story (1953) (which is seen as his masterpiece and also one of the best films ever made), Early Spring (1956) and Tokyo Twilight (1957).

Credits

Regie: Yasujirô Ozu
Cast: Ryô Ikebe, Teiji Takahashi
Genre: drama
Speelduur: 144 minuten
Land: Japan
Taal: Japans
Ondertiteling: Engels

Storyline

Sugiyama, a poorly paid office clerk accepts the advances of the department’s flirt, in part to alleviate the boredom of his passionless marriage. His wife finds out and tries to start over with Sugiyama. Unlike most of Ozu’s post-war films, Early Spring is set in the lower middle classes, in a white collar environment. The film focuses on a unique period in modern Japanese history, the 1950s during which the former empire reassembled itself after the war. There was little hope for the future; even those in work were usually poor. Ozu inimitably manages to capture the joy and sadness of everyday life in a human, sometimes humorous tale.