Late Spring

Late Spring tells the story of a relationship between a father and a daughter and how their cozy household is forced apart by marriage. The protagonist, Noriko, is in her late twenties and is passing the prime of her life to find a husband. Her meddling aunt, arranges a marriage for Noriko, but her father pretends that he will remarry in order for her to marry.

            Once again, this is a melodramatic story that depicts family and relationship issues. Society and expectations are forcing Noriko and her father, the Professor, in one direction when they want their life to take a different route. The Aunt is the character that represents society and all the expectations that come from living in Japan during the 1940’s. Noriko will do almost anything to not leave her father, including not attending a concert with Hattori, who could’ve been her partner.

            Ozu was very successful at making the audience feel as thought they are part of the story. He mainly used one lens, a 50mm, which is closest to what the human eye sees. This effect really brings the audience into the story. Additionally, he used recurring shots, such as midlevel shots and low long shots that are on eye-level with the characters or with the scene that makes a viewer feel like they were placed into the scene to watch. Another characteristic of Ozu’s work is lingering shots on characters when they are alone in order for the audience to get a better feel of their personality. An example of this is in the very last scene with the Professor. He comes home and pretends to act excited about his daughter’s wedding and happily accepts the congratulations, but once he is alone, peeling the apple, the audience can truly tell how morose and lonesome he feels.

            Another effect of Ozu’s filmmaking are the details he includes about Japanese life to truly show how it was during that time. His shots include the structure of the classic Japanese home, the type of food they eat, and the type of relationships within the family. Many critics say he is exact when it comes to showing Japanese life in the 1940’s.

Lastly, a theme of Ozu’s Late Spring was whether or not Noriko would be able to move forward into modernization. A scene where this symbolism comes through is when she rides the train with her father and decides whether she will sit down or not. She chooses sit down next to her father. Her friend, Aya, is the symbol of modernity as she is divorced and is able to provide for herself. Noriko is almost able to come to this point of westernization when she is on the date with Hattori. They looks very Americanized as they ride their bikes, and they even pass a quite obvious Coca-Cola sign.

All of these symbols that Ozu includes in his film help the audience to better understand the story he is trying to tell and the personalities of the characters. One must closely analyze the film in order to pick all of this up and fully understand the film.