After a series of often drunken encounters with old friends, mentors, and subordinates, a middle-aged businessman (Chishu Ryu) decides he should marry off his daughter (Shima Iwashita) rather than selfishly letting her take care of him and become an old maid in the process. Ozu's final film, made with the same delicate touch and mise-en-scene that predominated the rest of his body of work, is both moving and bittersweet while at the same time lighthearted and humorous. Longtime Ozu collaborator Ryu is wonderful in the lead.

*** 1/2 out of ****

A widowed woman in a rural town works in a textile mill and sacrifices so her son can attend school. Years later, she visits him in Tokyo and learns that he is married with an infant child although he is embarrassed he hasn't gone anywhere with his education and is only a lowly night school teacher. The Only Son, Ozu's first talking picture, is poignant with the sensitive craftsman-like director's piercing and perfectly placed camera perfectly evoking the somber mood of the film. Choko Iida amd Shinichi Himori are both wonderful playing mother and son.

*** 1/2 out of ****

Before the poignant and sorrowful Tokyo Story, Ozu's first two entries a series of family centered dramas dubbed the Noriko trilogy (in reference to the same named though separate characters portrayed by Setsuko Hara) take a strikingly similar set-up viewed from a different angle:

Late Spring tells of father's sometimes duplicitous efforts to marry off his doting near 30 year old daughter (Hara) against her wishes, and is told in the beloved director's usual contemplative, subtle manner while featuring fine performances and an incredible, low key ending. Many subtle reference depicting the westernization of Japanese culture are fascinating

In Early Summer, Hara again finds her family playing matchmaker, but instead goes out a stubborn, independent limb by favoring a recently reacquainted childhood sweetheart who does not match up to the family's standards of marriage. Filmed in beautiful greyscale, the film is sweet natured, observant, and extremely measured

Late Spring: *** 1/2 out of ****

Early Summer: *** out of ****

A traveling theater company visits a small seaside village as the troupe's leader attempts to reconnect with a former lover and his estranged, now grown son, all to the dismay of his scheming, jealous current mistress. Yasijuro Ozu's Floating Weeds is a beautifully understated remake of his own 1934 film featuring radiant coloring and excellent emotive acting, all resulting in a thoughtfully poignant picture that is impossible not to respond to.

An elderly couple leaves their seaside home for Tokyo, where they are treated like a nuisance and whisked away to a spa by their ungrateful children and only shown kindness to by their widowed daughter-in-law. Soon as they return home and the mother becomes deathly ill, it may too late for the children to mend their bonds with their ephemeral parents. "Tokyo Story" is a sad and stark film from the Japanese lengend Yasujiro Ozu, which holds a particular relevance in this day and age. Chisu Ryu and Cheiko Higashiyama turn in heartbreaking performances the aged couple who must come to terms with their selfish children before meeting their own demise. Setsuko Hara turns in an incredibly affecting performance as well playing the selfless widow. Ozu's films are simple and touching and require a certain frame of mind to appreciate. Admittedly, I was in the the kind of hurried state this film laments against and did not get all I should have out of it, which I certainly intend to do at a very near date.