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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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

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Cinema Club: Guadagnino/Ozu (2018)

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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

Ozu's negative take on the "corporatization" of private life

Soshun aka Early Spring (Yasujiro OZU, 1956)

This was made after a more than two-year gap following his preceding film, "Tokyo Story" (during which period he spent a lot of time working on a film that was to be directed by Kinuyo Tanaka -- which had become bogged down by all sorts of business politics). Ozu re-visits the world of the young "salaryman" for the first time since the 30s -- and doesn't particularly like what he finds. Ozu looks at the corrosive impact of the transition to a corporation-centered existence on white collar working men.

Shoji Sugiyama (Ryo IKEBE) and Masako (Ckikage AWASHIMA) have been married around 7 or 8 years, but are childless (their only son having died several years earlier). Shoji has shifted his focus to his career and pretty much disregards his wife (or at least takes her very much for granted). After Shoji becomes involved in dalliance with a co-worker, Chiyo, better known as "Goldfish" (Keiko Kishi), Masako decides she's had enough...

This film is one of Ozu's most earnest. While there are some touches of humor (for instance, Shoji's reunion with his army buddies, after which he is followed home by two of them), the overall tone is serious. Kumeko Urabe provides some earthy practicality as Masako's mother (now a noodle shop vendor -- unclear what she did prior to her husband's death years before) and Chishu Ryu (as Shoji's mentor, in business exile in the boondocks -- but not entirely regretting it) provides quasi-paternal guidance.

This film teaches a message Japan largely ignored, business relationships are not an adequate substitute for family ties. With the recent recognition (in Japan) of the phenomenon of "death by overwork", the message of the film might be considered especially timely.