The 36th Annual Film Series continues Sunday, January 21, 2pm with Early Summer, directed by Yasujiro Ozu, Japan (1951) 125 min.
This quieter sibling of the later films of beloved Japanese director Ozu reunites his favorite actors from Late Spring and Tokyo Story in another nuanced exploration of the dynamics within a multi-generational household. The patient pacing of the narrative lulls viewers into the daily rhythms of the Mayima family鈥檚 life, lingering on the pleasures of the quotidian in its comical episodes as well as in the moments of 鈥渄istilled drama.鈥� Following each family member in turn, the film zeroes in on daughter Noriko, who is trying to reconcile her desire to live as an unencumbered, single career woman with her family鈥檚 wish for her to marry. The decision she makes tears at both professional and familial relationships. Against the backdrop of an occupied Japan attempting to negotiate eastern and western cultural practices, Noriko and her family work to accept the realities of a family鈥檚 natural evolution.
The Film Institute is supported by the Thatcher Hoffman Smith Endowment and OKCU鈥檚 Center for Interpersonal Studies through Film and Literature.
A discussion will follow the presentation for those who wish to stay.
Praise for Early Summer
鈥淲ith a larger canvas than the intensive focus of Late Spring and a looser structure than the exacting symmetry of Tokyo Story, Early Summer feels freer, wider, more open even as it evinces the full-fledged mastery of the mature Ozu.鈥� Andrew Tracy, Reverse Shot/Museum of the Moving Image
鈥淸Ozu鈥檚] camera investigates the structure of living and working spaces, the geography of small suburban towns, the architecture of homes and sake bars and offices, and the emotional spaces that divide and unite the films鈥� characters.鈥� Leo Goldsmith, Not Coming to a Theater Near You
For more films in the 2017-2018 series, read more HERE.
