Banshun (1949)

Director:

Yasujiro Ozu

Writers:

Kazuo Hirotsu (based on the novel "Chichi to musume" by)
Kôgo Noda (screenplay) ...
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Release Date:

21 July 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Noriko is 27 years old and still living with her widowed father. Everybody tries to talk her into marrying, but Noriko wants to stay taking care of her father.

Plot Keywords:

Widower | Marriage | Baseball Bat | Spinster | Affection

Awards:

5 wins

Cast

Chishû Ryû	...	Shukichi Somiya
Setsuko Hara	...	Noriko Somiya
Yumeji Tsukioka	...	Aya Kitagawa
Haruko Sugimura	...	Masa Taguchi
Hohi Aoki	...	Katsuyoshi
Jun Usami	...	Shuichi Hattori
Kuniko Miyake	...	Akiko Miwa
Masao Mishima	...	Jo Onodera
Yoshiko Tsubouchi	...	Kiku
Yôko Katsuragi	...	Misako
Toyo Takahashi	...	Shige (as Toyoko Takahashi)
Jun Tanizaki	...	Seizo Hayashi
Ichirô Shimizu	...	Takigawa's master
Youko Benisawa	...	Teahouse Proprietress
Manzaburo Umewaka	...	Shite
Nobu Nojima	...	Waki
Ichiro Kitamura	...	Little drum
Haruo Yasufuku	...	Big drum
Soichi Konparu
Tadaichi Aoki	...	Goto
Nagahiro Yoshida
Seiju Kanze
Shintaro Umewaka
Shizuo Kanze
Seiji Toda
Kozo Fukuda
Shinichiro Takayama
Seinosuke Ishida
Yutaka Aoki
Kinzo Hasegawa
Gazan Hasegawa

Directed by
Yasujiro Ozu

Writing credits
Kazuo Hirotsu		(based on the novel "Chichi to musume" by)
Kôgo Noda		(screenplay) and
Yasujiro Ozu		(screenplay)

Original Music by
Senji Itô

Cinematography by
Yuuharu Atsuta

Film Editing by
Yoshiyasu Hamamura

Art Direction by
Tatsuo Hamada

Production Companies

• Shôchiku Eiga

Distributors

• Shôchiku Eiga (1949) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Shochiku Home Video (2003) (Japan) (DVD)
• trigon-film (2007) (Austria) (theatrical)
• trigon-film (2007) (Germany) (theatrical)
• trigon-film (2007) (Switzerland) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Criterion Collection, The (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Lume Filmes (2007) (Brazil) (DVD)
• New Yorker Films (1972) (USA) (subtitled)
• trigon-film (2007) (Switzerland) (DVD) (subtitled)

Also Known As:

Late Spring (USA)

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Chigasaki, Kanagawa, Japan

Company:

Shôchiku Eiga

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: A camera/dolly shadow is visible on the sidewalk as it follows Noriko walking.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ikite wa mita keredo - Ozu Yasujirô den (1983)

Depicts the acceptance of the sadness of life

The concept of mono no aware is said to define the essence of Japanese culture. The phrase means "a sensitivity to things", the ability to experience a direct connection with the world without the necessity of language. Yasujiro Ozu sums up this philosophy in Late Spring, a serene depiction of the acceptance of life's inevitabilities and the sadness that follows it. The film shows the pressure in Japanese families for children to be married as the "natural order" of things, regardless of their wishes. One wonders if Ozu, who never married, is sharing his own family experience with us.

In Late Spring, a widowed Professor, Somiya (Chishu Ryu), must face the inevitability of giving up his daughter, Noriko (Setsuko Hara) to marriage. Noriko, however, wants only to continue to live at home and care for her father and insists that marriage is not for her. Yet the social pressure to marry continues to build, coming not only from her father but also from Somiya's sister Masa (Haruko Sugimura) whom she calls "Auntie", and from a friend, the widower Onodera (Masao Mishima) who has recently remarried. Masa, unrelenting, presents Noriko with a prospect named Satake who reminds her of actor Gary Cooper, but she is still reluctant. To make it easier for Noriko to decide, Somiya tells her that he is planning to remarry and she will no longer need to take care of him. Noriko's agonizes over her decision and her once beaming face increasingly carries hints of resignation. At the end, the old man sits alone peeling a piece of fruit as the ocean waves signal the inexorable flow of timeless things.