“Yasujiro Ozu’s 1949 film inaugurated his majestic late period: it’s here that he decisively renounces melodrama (and, indeed, most surface action of any kind) and lets his camera settle into the still, long-take contemplation.”
Chishû Ryû stars as Shukichi Somiya, an elderly widower who feels compelled to marry off his beloved only daughter, Noriko (Setsuko Hara). Set in post-War Japan, Late Spring belongs to the type of Japanese film known as shomingeki, a genre that deals with the ordinary daily lives of working class and middle class people of modern times.
