Early Spring (1956)

A young man and his wife struggle within the confines of their passionless relationship while he has an extramarital romance.

Director:

Yasujirô Ozu

Writers:

Kôgo Noda (screenplay), Yasujirô Ozu (screenplay)

Stars:

Chikage Awashima, Ryô Ikebe, Teiji Takahashi

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chikage Awashima	...	Masako Sugiyama
Ryô Ikebe	...	Shôji Sugiyama
Teiji Takahashi	...	Taizô Aoki
Keiko Kishi	...	Chiyo Kaneko
Chishû Ryû	...	Kiichi Onodera
Sô Yamamura	...	Yutaka Kawai
Takako Fujino	...	Terumi Aoki
Masami Taura	...	Kôichi Kitagawa
Haruko Sugimura	...	Tamako Tamura
Kumeko Urabe	...	Shige Kitagawa
Kuniko Miyake	...	Yukiko Kawai
Eijirô Tôno	...	Tokichi Hattori
Kôji Mitsui	...	Hirayama
Daisuke Katô	...	Sakamoto
Fujio Suga	...	Tanabe

Storyline

A young man and his wife struggle within the confines of their passionless relationship while he has an extramarital romance.

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Plot Keywords:

neighbor | dream | midlife crisis | pursuit of happiness | happiness | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in I Lived, But... (1983)

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Soundtracks

Kâtibim
, A version of (uncredited)
Turkish folk song
[Can be heard during war buddies reunion in the background]

User Reviews

Lacking The Director's Usual Quiet Magic, But Will Worthwhile

I consider Yasujiro Ozu one of the worlds most significant and distinctive directors, a man who eschews false dazzle in favor of examining the human condition, human relationships; most of his films are quietly incisive portraits of people coming to conclusions and making decisions which will permanently affect their lives. Ozu imparts subtlety to his characters, his sense of time and place are impeccable, and his respect for his characters unparalleled. All of that said, I think that Early Spring is one of his least effective--one easily sees the point he makes about corporate behavior and marital infidelity, but this one, rather than quietly contemplative, struck me as merely slow. The characters too often lack any redeeming qualities, and yet we are apparently supposed to care about them for more than two hours, difficult when there is so little to work with--Early Spring is certainly not a stinker, by any means, but for me, a lesser Ozu, and if you want to start with something more characteristic, begin with either version of Floating Weeds, or with his masterpiece, Tokyo Story.

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

25 September 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Early Spring

Filming Locations:

Kamata Station, 7 Chome Nixhikamata Ota, Tokyo, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shochiku

Technical Specs

Runtime:

145 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1