BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

kurosawakira What a way to start a film! The ebb and flow of things, of family, of expectation. It all comes together later: the aviary, the balloon in the sky, the final photograph, the wedding party crossing the field (reminiscent of Vigo's "L'Atalante" [1934]). There's the unfathomable sense of loss, of belonging. Change in the smallest of things. The swift cuts from the beach to the house via the aviary and the two interior shots have such potency that they're quickly becoming my iconic Ozu moments.Here the camera moves more than it does in "Banshun" (1949) or "Tôkyô monogatari" (1953), not to mention his later work. The minutiae of the movement is scintillating, the timing and graceful effect the shots have, electrifying and intensifying the film greatly. They're not self-conscious as you might think considering they're surrounded by such an ocean of repose.And there's always a performance in the middle of it. This time it's a kabuki play. Ryû Chishû is sublime in this as the cranky brother, perhaps his best role.This has been released on Blu-ray (Region B) by the British Film Institute as part of their huge undertaking to release over thirty of Ozu's films on either Blu-ray or DVD. It's a wonderful transfer, a treasure to behold.

dromasca There are several repeating themes and symbols in Ozu's movies, especially the three films in his famous trilogy around the Japanese 50s where 'Early Summer' is the second installment. For example the film starts with a seashore shot, with waves hitting the sand in eternity and ends with the image of an endless field and a mountain in the background. There two vibrant images are prelude and ending to a film which superficially can be called a feminist family drama, an apparently banal story of a nice and independent girl in a traditional family under pressure to get married. And yet there is a meaning in the relation between the day-to-day family life and the universal dimension of nature - an almost sacred dimension I would say. Ozu treats family life with the full attention and respect that a great artist approaches big universal themes. For him the family is the basic building block of the Japanese society, and family relations are the fabric of the society. Day to day life is filmed with piety, as in a religious ceremony.Recurring themes abound in 'Early Summer' and will be easily recognized by those who have seen the first film in the trilogy - 'Late Spring': Ozu's passion for trains. The theater as a component of the spiritual life, and as an institution that enables communication between the characters. No music or just minimalist soundtrack as the minuet track that accompanies the family scenes, enhancing the feelings of joy and ritualism. And of course, we have here again the magnificent Setsuko Hara, with the fragility, dignity and interior light that makes of her the Japanese Ingrid Bergman.By telling an apparently minimalistic family story Ozu tells here again a story about the Japan he was living in, a country trying to come to terms with itself after an horrific war, defeat and occupation. What strikes at the first sight is the normality - the first few tens of minutes of the film could have happened in any of the Western countries of the period and almost nothing reminds the pressure of history around. And yet, this does exist. The elder parents carry with them the memory of a disappeared son. In a restaurant, at the end of a scene where the characters rejoice in jubilation at memories of their young age and past years, and about how the place remained unchanged a rare (at Ozu) move of camera discovers a wall hidden until then with a poster advertising an American airline. The message is low-key but yet distinct and clear - the victors of the war may have imposed their economic and political structures, but the level of pollution of the day-to-day life is relatively low and has little signification relative to the big picture. Eternal Japan survives, tradition, focus on work, and on family life is the key if this survival. From a visual point of view 'Early Summer' is an even more sophisticated and beautiful film than 'Late Spring'. Many of the scenes of the interiors of the Japanese houses are magnificent, with a symmetric framing of the space, and successive walls and sliding doors that define the perspective and allow for concurrent movements or dialogs to happen in parallel giving a feeling of complexity in the good sense of the word, and helping actually explain the intrigue and progress it all around. Acting is superb, with some of the actors returning here from previous films of Ozu, who directs their words, silence, and movements with sympathy and deep understanding. Even if some of the dialogs at the end of the film are too explicit and sounded didactic and melodramatic to my contemporary and 'Western' taste, by the time we have gotten there we are already knowing and trusting the characters too well so that we can forgive them for speaking a few wooden language words.It's a simple and sensible film, and a good introduction for those who start exploring the Ozu universe.

Andres Salama As other readers already commented, Early Summer (or Bakushu, made in 1951) is easy to confuse with another movie by Ozu made during the same period: Late Spring (1949). Aside from the references to the seasons in the title, both deal with the "problem" of the Setsuko Hara character (she of the ever wonderful smile) still being unmarried in her late twenties. (Ironically, in real life, Setsuko Hara never married and become something of a recluse in later years). Curiously, Chishu Ryu, who played her father in Late Spring, plays her brother in Early Summer. The slight plot deals with the pressure and machinations made by the extended family to find a suitable husband for her. When she finally does find a husband, however, is not the one they were expecting. Her new husband would have to move to another city for job reasons soon, and that means the splintering of her family: without her contribution to the rent (she works as a tourist guide, as so many young unmarried women in Japanese movies of the 1950s), the family will not be able to afford living in the same house. Her actions would eventually mean the return of her parents to the countryside. That means the movie ends in a bittersweet note: on the one side, Hara has attained some degree of freedom in choosing her own spouse, but for her family, this freedom would end up hurting them financially and emotionally.

Snow Leopard Ozu's "Early Summer" is a delightful movie to watch, pleasant and light in its story, yet thoughtful and sensitive in a good many respects. It is also a triumph for Ozu's simple-looking but carefully conceived style of film-making, and the material in the story parallels the style in a natural but satisfying manner.So many of Ozu's movies portray the distinctive characteristics of the Japan of his day, and yet do so in a way that make the characters and their situations seem almost universal. By focusing so much of the running time on repeated daily routines, even the habits and customs unique to its own society become points of identification, since routines are routines, regardless of how they might differ from one time and place to another.Here, the family relationships among the central characters are fleshed out carefully, so as to create many possibilities in the interactions between the various generations. There is significant screen time given to many different characters, and all of them are worth getting to know. Noriko (Setsuko Hara) is the main character, in that she ties together her family with the characters outside of it, and as the movie proceeds, it is her life that gradually becomes the main focus. Ozu's presentation of the preoccupation that the other characters have with Noriko's unmarried status is both believable and perceptive. Hara is very endearing in the role, and she does very well in portraying her relationships with and her reactions to the other characters.Given that Ozu deliberately makes very sparing use of camera movement and similar techniques, in favor of simple but carefully composed settings that emphasize the characters themselves, there is a nice parallel in the way that the story proceeds and the main questions are resolved. The characters' heartfelt decisions are shown to be more worthwhile than meticulous arrangements. As tends to happen with his films, a pleasing pattern with a ring of truth to it emerges, almost unexpectedly. It's enjoyable to watch, and an admirable display of cinematic skill.