8.0/10
2,364
13 user 29 critic

Early Spring (1956)

Sôshun (original title)
| Drama | 25 September 1974 (USA)
Early Spring Poster
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 | See full cast & crew »
Reviews

On Disc

at Amazon

Photos

See all 16 photos »
Learn more

More Like This 













◄ Prev 6 Next 6 ►

Next »
Tokyo Twilight (1957)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.2/10 X  

Two sisters find out the existence of their long-lost mother, but the younger cannot take the truth of being abandoned as a child.

Director: Yasujirô Ozu
Stars: Setsuko Hara, Ineko Arima, Chishû Ryû
Next »
Late Autumn (1960)
Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.2/10 X  

A widow tries to marry off her daughter with the help of her late husband's three friends.

Director: Yasujirô Ozu
Stars: Setsuko Hara, Yôko Tsukasa, Mariko Okada
Next »
Equinox Flower (1958)
Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

A businessman clashes with his elder daughter over her choice of a husband.

Director: Yasujirô Ozu
Stars: Shin Saburi, Kinuyo Tanaka, Ineko Arima
Next »
Early Summer (1951)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.2/10 X  

A family chooses a match for their daughter Noriko, but she, surprisingly, has her own plans.

Director: Yasujirô Ozu
Stars: Setsuko Hara, Chishû Ryû, Chikage Awashima
Next »
The End of Summer (1961)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

The family of an older man who runs a small sake brewery become concerned with his finances and his health after they discover him visiting an old mistress from his youth.

Director: Yasujirô Ozu
Stars: Ganjirô Nakamura, Setsuko Hara, Yôko Tsukasa
Next »
Late Spring (1949)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.3/10 X  

Noriko is twenty-seven years old and still living with her widowed father. Everybody tries to talk her into marrying, but Noriko wants to stay at home caring for her father.

Director: Yasujirô Ozu
Stars: Chishû Ryû, Setsuko Hara, Yumeji Tsukioka
Next »
There Was a Father (1942)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

Shuhei Horikawa, a poor schoolteacher, struggles to raise his son Ryohei by himself, despite neither money nor prospects.

Director: Yasujirô Ozu
Stars: Chishû Ryû, Shûji Sano, Shin Saburi
Next »
Floating Weeds (1959)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

The head of a Japanese theatre troupe returns to a small coastal town where he left a son who thinks he is his uncle, and tries to make up for the lost time, but his current mistress grows jealous.

Director: Yasujirô Ozu
Stars: Ganjirô Nakamura, Machiko Kyô, Haruko Sugimura
Next »
A Hen in the Wind (1948)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

A man returns from World War II to find his desperate wife had resorted to one night of prostitution to pay for their son's hospital bills.

Director: Yasujirô Ozu
Stars: Kinuyo Tanaka, Shûji Sano, Chieko Murata
Next »
The Only Son (1936)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

A widow sends her only son away to receive a better education. Years later, she visits him, finding him a poor school teacher with a wife and son.

Director: Yasujirô Ozu
Stars: Chôko Iida, Shin'ichi Himori, Masao Hayama
Next »
Record of a Tenement Gentleman (1947)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

A young boy follows Tashiro home to his tenement housing complex on the outskirts of Tokyo, the boy who was separated from his carpenter father somehow and somewhere in Kudan. All Tashiro ... See full summary »

Director: Yasujirô Ozu
Stars: Chôko Iida, Hôhi Aoki, Eitarô Ozawa
Next »
The Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family (1941)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

When the patriarch of the Toda family suddenly dies, his widow discovers that he has left her with nothing but debt and married children who are unwilling to support her--except for her most thoughtful son, just returned from China.

Director: Yasujirô Ozu
Stars: Mieko Takamine, Shin Saburi, Hideo Fujino
Edit

Cast

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

Storyline

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

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

neighbor | dream | midlife crisis | pursuit of happiness | happiness | See All (29) »

Genres:

Drama

Certificate:

See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

Add content advisory for parents »
Edit

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

25 September 1974 (USA) See more »

Also Known As:

Early Spring See more »

Filming Locations:

Kamata Station, 7 Chome Nixhikamata Ota, Tokyo, Japan See more »

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shochiku See more »
Show more on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
See full technical specs »
Edit

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in I Lived, But... (1983) See more »

Soundtracks

Hotaru no Hikari
(Japanese version of "Auld Lang Syne")
Scottish traditional
Japanese lyrics by Chikai Inagaki (1881)
(sung by the employees at Shoji's departure)
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Reviews

Lacking The Director's Usual Quiet Magic, But Will Worthwhile
3 March 2013 | by museumofdave – See all my reviews

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.
9 of 10 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you? | Report this
Review this title | See all 13 user reviews »
Getting Started | Contributor Zone »

Contribute to This Page

Free Movies and TV Shows to Watch Now

On IMDb TV, you can catch Hollywood hits and popular TV series at no cost. Select any poster below to play the movie, totally free!

The NeverEnding Story
Contact
Zookeeper
Paddington
The Adventures of the Wi...

Browse all our free movies and TV series

Stream Trending Movies With Prime Video

Enjoy a night in with these popular movies available to stream now with Prime Video.

Start your free trial


Clear your history

Recently Viewed