Tonight's Movie: An Autumn Afternoon (1962)

In his 2011 review of Yasujiro Ozu's AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON (1962), Roger Ebert wrote "From time to time I return to Ozu feeling a need to be calmed and restored."

Over the last few years I've become familiar with that feeling, and when I felt the need for a cinematic "palate cleanser" after the sordidness of THE TARNISHED ANGELS (1957), Ozu was the first thing which popped into my head. I know any one of his movies will be peaceful and soothing, while simultaneously causing me to Think Big Thoughts about life, and watching AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON was really the perfect choice after the previous movie.

AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON, known in its native Japan as SANMA NO AJI, was sadly the director's last film; he died in 1963. It follows the pattern of a number of his earlier films, in which a parent (Chishu Ryu) must part with a beloved child (Shima Iwashita) when she marries.

Ozu's films are slow yet never dull, taking the viewer on a naturalistic journey through the characters' lives. A series of circumstances convinces the widowed Hirayama (Ryu) that it's in his daughter's best interest to marry so that she can have a home of her own and not spend the remainder of her life caring for him, ultimately to be left alone.

There is heartbreak -- a hoped-for match which is not to be, a father beginning life alone the night of the wedding -- but also comedy and great beauty. Some of Ozu's trademark static shots of signs and objects made me sigh with bliss, appreciating the bright pops of red against the pale backgrounds, and the first shot of Michiko in her wedding dress is exquisite.

Again like some of his previous films, Ozu uses an elliptical style which sometimes omits important moments. Just as EQUINOX FLOWER (1958), to name one example, skips the daughter's wedding, in AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON we never once see the bridegroom! I regretted him not appearing in a single scene, but it was an interesting choice.

I always love the baseball scenes in Ozu's movies, and there's a marvelous sequence where a game is being watched in a bar; I love the familiar rhythms of the game described in Japanese. Also fun was a rooftop driving range and Hirayama's son (Keiji Sada) being obsessed with MacGregor golf clubs.

I was intrigued by a discussion about what life would have been like if Japan had won the war, with Hirayama ultimately saying he thinks it's good Japan lost. Fascinating stuff.

There tends to be much drinking of sake in Ozu's films, but I felt that the drinking seemed to be rather overboard this time around, especially as Hirayama repeatedly runs into his old teacher (Eijiro Tono), who now runs a noodle shop and gets blitzed every time they get together. There were times I really wanted to take the bottle away from the fictional characters I was watching! But while they tend to drink much too much, it doesn't mar the film; I suppose it just makes them human.

Most importantly, the deceptively simple story causes the viewer to contemplate family, relationships, and the circle of life. While there are surface differences between life in the U.S. and Japan, starting with arranged marriages, the big issues of life are universal.

AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON runs 103 minutes. It was written by the director and Kogo Noda. The movie was filmed by Yuhara Atsuta.

I watched AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON on Criterion's DVD. The extras include a commentary track by Donald Bordwell.

Previously reviewed Ozu films: WHAT DID THE LADY FORGET? (1937), LATE SPRING (1949), EARLY SUMMER (1951), FLAVOR OF GREEN TEA OVER RICE (1952), TOKYO STORY (1953), EQUINOX FLOWER (1958), GOOD MORNING (1959), LATE AUTUMN (1960), and THE END OF SUMMER (1961).

Related review: IN SEARCH OF OZU (2018).