Akibiyori

In many ways a retread of his earlier masterpiece Late Spring, which dealt with the relationship between a widowed father and his marry-able daughter, Ozu returned to familiar territory as he often did late in his career for a look at the flip-side. Here, the mother is widowed and desires to see her daughter married and happy. Three friends determine to intervene, leaving a trail of misunderstandings and hurt feelings in their attempt to appease all involved.

While this is certainly a familiar story for Ozu to tell, he somehow manages to inject new life into it every time out. Through a beautiful color palette and his famous visual style, Ozu explores a world of postwar Japan that finally appears to be picking itself up fifteen years after World War II. Western dress and behavior continues to seep into Japanese culture and Ozu seems to be picking up on the rapid evolution of change within his country throughout these late career works. His lack of interest in plot and storytelling leaves the viewer more time to focus on the atmosphere, the context in which the story is set. The result is a very pensive and serene feeling as one realizes that no matter what time or place, humans will always desire certain things. Companionship, love and happiness will never go out of style, even for widowed women.

This story is basically a retelling of the excellent "late Spring", except now the always engaging Setsuko Hara plays the mother in the film rather than the daughter. The daughter, the beautiful Ayako played by Yoko Tsukasa, is being told its time to marry. Three friends of her late father (essentially uncles) attempt to arrange a suitable partner for her. Ozu has updated his films before and he always manages to keep them fresh. This time, it is both humorous as well as poignant. A great addition to the story is Ayako's best friend Yuriko, a spitfire who isn't afraid to speak her mind. I especially like the relationship of Akiko (Hara) and Ayako as mother and daughter. They seem very comfortable with each other. In the previous "Late Spring", there was more tension. That is what gives "late Spring" the nod as the better film, it is a masterpiece. In this film the acting is uniformly good to great and there are some standout scenes, especially between the always beautiful, gifted actress Setsuko Hara and Yoko Tsukasa. There is also a great scene between Yuriko and the three men who are trying to find a suitor for Ayako. By all means, watch this film, but don't miss "late Spring". This film is available on the 5 disc "Late Ozu" set and both the film and box set are highly recommended.

Apparently this is a semi-remake of one of Ozu's own films, which I haven't seen (Late Spring). It's also a little familiar to the most recent Ozu film I watched, 1962's An Autumn Afternoon. Besides having titles that share a word, each involves parents looking for partners for their daughter to marry. In An Autumn Afternoon, it's a father looking for someone for his daughter to marry, and in Late Autumn, it's a mother looking for someone to marry her daughter (with the help of three very entertaining male side characters, who sort of kick off the main plot without being the film's lead characters).

Yasujiro Ozu's films are slow and touching, but never dry or overly sentimental. Personally, I have to be in the right mood to get attached to them, but thankfully, tonight was the right mood. I found this very engaging throughout, and thought the characters were endearing, the visuals were very pleasant to look at, and the mix of drama and humour was pitch-perfect.

There is still the slow pacing that I was aware of here and there, but not too often, all things considered. Part of me felt like 130 minutes was a little long, but another part of me enjoyed spending over two hours with these characters and their important (but not too high stakes) life decisions. I even had to remind myself they were fictional, after I thought to myself right after the movie ended that I hoped a character would be okay in their life going forward... before pinching myself and realising that they're fictional, and there technically is no more life for them to live once the screen fades to black. I think that's the sign of good writing and acting right there.

Ozu's common themes of ageing, filial ties and modernisation are as present here as in many other of his films. But in this film, as well as the melancholy and gentleness we are accustomed to, there are large doses of comedy which makes this film far more accessible for the uninitiated.

The story centres around a widow (Setsuko Hara) and her daughter (Yoko Tsukasa). The daughter doesn't want to get married because she wants to care for her mother, whereas the mother wants her daughter to marry even though she realises she'll be left alone. So far everything is extremely familiar. Except that in this case the dead husband's friends get involved, trying to find suitors for both mother and daughter, thus creating comical situations, causing family tensions, and finally necessitating for the daughter's friend to step in and sort out the mess.

All in all highly recommended for anyone who wishes to try out this highly prestigious director, and a strong reminder for fans of why we love him so much.

Akibiyori / Late Autumn (1960) : Brief Review -

An update to Japanese Classic 'Banshun' / 'Late Spring' with a gender change but with the same Classy Impact. Recently, i saw Banshun (1949) and was moved by the film. I never thought that a non-narrative classic of Ozu can ever get inspired version or should I say updated version because the ultimate factism of Banshun was something kind of unavoidable and irreplaceable. I don't hate to say it that i have been proved wrong by the Master Director as he reconstructed the similar story with Akibiyori with the change in Protagonist's gender and yet delivered a Classic film. Actually, this one is more explored version and has wider vision than Banshun and that's obvious because it was made after a decade so the filmmaking went ahead as expected. A widow tries to marry off her daughter with the help of her late husband's three friends. The similar story what we saw in Banshun with the Mother replacing the Father, and those three friends being a great addition. Unlike Banshun, this is far more entertaining with comic touch and quirky humour. It has funny moments created from daily life activities and issues which surely brings laughter when needed. The light tone momentum makes it engaging film and also provides a repeat value. I doubt if can watch Banahun on repeat mode again and again but it's a big YES for Akibiyori. Apart from that it is greatly filled with rich emotions and ethical sentiments that will stir your feelings. That emotional touch in the last 30 minutes is terrifically crafted from all angles. All the actors have done a great job. Ozu never fails to bring the best out of his cast and Akibiyori is yet another undeniable example of it. A grand salute to the legendary filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu for making such heartwarming films on definite family issue like 'Marriage' which has never been told in such classy manners ever by any Director in the cinema world.

RATING - 8/10*

By - #samthebestest