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Michael Kerpan wrote:The peeling of the apple at the end of Late Spring could be seen as a sort of Buddhist exercise -- an activity that forced the father to "live in the present" for at least as long as it took to complete the peeling process.

Very nice reading of this moment - I think that's precisely how it comes across in the film, and I like the idea that this scene is emblematic of the process the father must now go through, of resigning himself to the conclusion of this phase in his and his daugther's life. Maybe the fruit imagery connects to the earlier association between Noriko and the 'iris spirit'? Or maybe that's over-analysing things...

Michael Kerpan wrote:My favorite single scene in all of Ozu, is the "proposal" scene in Early Summer (it invariably makes me sniffle and giggle simultaneously). The relationships in this film (for all its humor) are some of the most complex in all of Ozu. For instance, Noriko's own family isn't particularly nice -- and it is pretty clear that she feels fonder towards (and more comfortable with) her neighbor (Haruko Sugimura). Although still incomplete, we see much more of the process of the beginning of formation of a new family.

Spoiler

The neighbor's son -- and long-time friend of Noriko and her dead brother -- is NOT indifferent -- he is stunned. One assumes he has always considered Noriko out of reach -- as her family had a higher degree of status and prestige. I suspect, in the end, this marriage will turn out happier than any of the others we see beginning to form in Ozu's films.

I watched the film again, with your comments in mind, and again I realise I was over-stating the negative side of things before. It had never occurred to me to think of Noriko's family as 'not particularly nice', but I think I see where you're coming from - it is delicately suggested that the relations between her brother and his wife (and his sons) are not ideal. But I couldn't agree more about the complexity of these relationships, and any attempt to pin them down seems reductive.

However, I do think there's a distinct sadness to the scene where Kikichi comes home and his mother tells him the good news. Perhaps a gentle smile begins to play across his face towards the very end of the scene, but for the most part the emphasis seems to be on his, apparently rather depressed, resignation to what has happened. He tells his mother to stop crying since she is so happy; and when he claims to be happy, she tells him to show it more. The next day, the mother tells Noriko that Kikichi was overjoyed, and Noriko says that her parents approved of the match; and we know very well that neither of these statements is quite true. They're very white lies, of course: Kikichi will probably be as happy as he can be with Noriko, and her family will reconcile themselves to the idea.

But I think that here, as in Late Spring, Ozu is drawing a distinction between the ideal and reality. The process of getting Noriko married is supposed to mean getting her a husband who will be rich and always make her happy (as I think Noriko jokes to her uncle), but the reality is that she leaves her 'home sweet home' (and despite her family's flaws, they are clearly happy together for the most part) for a life that may well be difficult and poverty-stricken, lacking those home comforts she is used to - shortcake, for instance! In a way, Noriko seems to have a more pragmatic sense of her own marriage as a necessary 'next step', in that she uses the opportunity to help a neighbouring family 'move on' as well, despite the son's apparent unwillingness to pull himself out of the rut he has been in since his wife's death. The marriage she concocts for herself makes sense in a brilliantly pragmatic way, but is, for the moment, devoid of romance. Her family's reaction to the news indicates that they were hoping for a more 'ideal' solution, a match with a richer and handsomer man (and hopefully a younger one than the man Noriko's boss had picked out), and that they had not faced the reality that Noriko's marriage would necessarily break up the family, and possibly entail a good deal of hardship for her as well.

It is certainly going too far to call these situations 'tragic' as such, or to say that Kikichi is merely 'indifferent', but Early Summer still seems to me to conclude on a note of sadness - with Noriko weeping and her mother agreeing with her husband that they've had a happy life, but then becoming despondent as she realises that this happiness is in the past. Ozu steps back from this a little in the miraculous final shot, so perfectly expressive of simultaneous (and interdependent) change and stability, but overall it strikes me as a film which takes a situation you would expect to be, and is to a great extent, an occasion for joy, and shows in unsparing detail the pain that is inescapably mixed with that happiness. In other words, the joy is real but overt, whereas the pain is what lies under the surface, and it is the latter that Ozu seems especially concerned to draw out. But again, I'm sure there are many ways of reacting to the film, and no doubt I'll react differently on a tenth or twelfth viewing.

I think in Early Summer, there is an implied level of happiness underlying the underlying layer of sadness. ;~}

BTW -- Bakusho == barley harvest time. Barley being the "first fruits" of the annual grain-growing season. So, possibly signifying the first promising signs of the even more bountiful harvests yet to come.

I love the paired fibs about familial reaction to news of the engagement. Noriko's choice of a marriage based on friendship rather than affluence or romantic love is quite interesting.

Spoiler

I think Noriko's love for the little motherless girl will seal the deal for ultimate genuine happiness (and joy) with the initially taken-aback father.

The Digital Fix (Matt Shingleton again) on Tokyo Story.

Blu-ray.com on Early Summer.

Apologies in advance for taking this off-topic (not too long though I hope) but here is a question for Michael Kerpan or anyone else who might be able to answer my question. I've decided to try learning Japanese and am currently waiting for my confirmation email from Japanesepod101. I've also got one other site bookmarked but was wondering if there were any other sites you'd recommend, and if you had any general suggestions for trying to get to grips with Japanese. I am also curious to hear from other Westerners how easy or difficult they found it to learn Japanese. Trying to memorise all these different characters in the Japanese script (46 basic characters to begin with) seems particularly daunting.

(Maybe one day I'll be able to watch Ozu, Misumi, Kurosawa, Naruse et al without English subs)

Finch: You'd better visit another forum for that question (I can really recommend that place). Also, I found that the Pimsleur method (expensive, but easy to find online) is the best method to quickly develop an 'ear' for another language. PM me if you want more language tips and don't want to get too far off topic

Thanks for the link ArchCarrier.

Mubi.com (Glenn Kenny) on Tokyo Story.

Michael Glover Smith on all the Ozu discs to date.

this question ties in with the bfi's sd release of "what did the lady forget". (definition) “Modern girls モダンガール (modan gaaru?) were Japanese women who followed Westernized fashions and lifestyles in the 1920s. These moga were Japan’s equivalent of America’s flappers, India’s kallege ladki, Germany’s neue Frauen, France’s garçonnes, or China’s modeng xiaojie.1 By viewing her through a Japanese vs Western lens, the nationalist press could use the modern girl archetype to blame such failings as frivolity, sexual promiscuity, and selfishness on foreign influence.”(question) the niece setsuko in"What Did the Lady Forget?" is the first expression of that 1920s and 30s archetype “the moga” that i encountered in ozus oeuvre yet with a few slight yet telling deviations from the above definition ie: sexual fluidity alongside possible promiscuity. an example of that fluidity is the flirtatious rapport setsuko establishes with a geisha. after admiring the geishas homespun purse she exchanges her own far more high-end purse while maintaining an intense heavy-lidded eye contact with the reluctant and disconcerted geisha![ later in the film she supports, in chauvinist fashion, her uncles violence towards his wife.] are there any other examples of “the moga” in 1930s Japanese film that i should know about?

(sidenote)the critical response to "what did the lady forget" has always been fairly negligible as if its adherence to the lubitsch model (which includes the sexual ambiguity mentioned above) was too close, rendering the film atypical and as such not part of the "ozu" discussion!(this film might be the only direct homage to another filmmaker in ozus oeuvre)

To lear more about moga (and other issues as to how modernity affected Japanese women) see Barbara Sato's New Japanese Woman.

The earliest moga I know of in Japanese cinema shows up in Shimizu's Fue no shiratama (1929), see this.

The first (surviving) moga in Ozu shows up in Walk Cheerfully (1930). There appear to be quite a few more in films about contemporary life (by lots of directors) through the mid-30s. By the end of the decade, the authorities frowned on portraying them.

do you have any biographical info on the fascinating michiko kuwano(setsuko) michael kerpan? (thanks for the book recommendation by the way, i have just this second placed an order)

ambrose wrote:do you have any biographical info on the fascinating michiko kuwano(setsuko) michael kerpan? (thanks for the book recommendation by the way, i have just this second placed an order)

Not sure where IMDB came up with the phantom twin of Michiko Kuwano -- the films attributed to "Setsuko" are ones that Michiko appeared in.

William Drew has provided a nice mini-biography

A website devoted to Michiko Kuwano (in Japanese)

Equinox Flower, Good Morning, I Was Born, But... and There Was a Father have all been classified by the BBFC over the past week or so suggesting these will make up the next two double bills.

If I Was Born, But... is in HD, then it will be my first BFI Ozu purchase.

Good Morning -- with good subtitles AND proper color AND in HD. A dream come true. ;~} (I f only it does happen).

Equinox Flower - with subtitles for the song and HD - heaven.

Peacock wrote:Equinox Flower - with subtitles for the song and HD - heaven.

That, too (as long as it has the same color balance as the gorgeous Shochiku DVD).

Good morning. Boys farting in best sound and in HD! This one is a bit different from most post war Ozu films... But I like it!

If these are the double features, I'm optimistic that I Was Born, But. . . and There Was a Father will also be in HD, since there's the Criterion precedent as with The Only Son.

I'd be even more delighted if those four titles are the headliners and four other, less readily available features fill up the second half of these releases.

I am assuming Good Morning and I Was Born, But... will be paired?

Would be logical indeed, interesting if THERE WAS A FATHER also makes it to Blu, which seems likely, as Criterion have already created an HD master...

aox wrote:I am assuming Good Morning and I Was Born, But... will be paired?

ellipsis7 wrote:Would be logical indeed

Since everybody knows that the former is a remake of the latter.

Even though it's not.

Whatever, print the legend!

Actually EQUINOX FLOWER & THERE WAS A FATHER also are well paired in a general thematic sense (exploring in depth the father-son/daughter relationship), as are the other two (yes, remake is probably going to far)...

I hope the BFI don't get too theme-happy, or they're going to have trouble finding later features to pair up with Ozu's gangster films and college comedies (though I could see A Hen in the Wind and That Night's Wife making for a nice pairing).

I'm just cranky because if we're looking at two releases every six to nine months it'll be years before we get to the really obscure stuff.