Late Autumn (1960)

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

Director:

Yasujirô Ozu

Writers:

Ton Satomi (novel), Kôgo Noda (screenplay)

Stars:

Setsuko Hara, Yôko Tsukasa, Mariko Okada

3 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Setsuko Hara	...	Akiko Miwa
Yôko Tsukasa	...	Ayako Miwa
Mariko Okada	...	Yuriko Sasaki
Keiji Sada	...	Shotaru Goto
Miyuki Kuwano	...	Michiko
Shin'ichirô Mikami	...	Koichi
Shin Saburi	...	Soichi Mamiya
Chishû Ryû	...	Shukichi Miwa
Nobuo Nakamura	...	Shuzo Taguchi
Kuniko Miyake	...	Nobuko
Sadako Sawamura	...	Fumiko
Ryûji Kita	...	Seiichiro Hirayama
Fumio Watanabe	...	Tsuneo Sugiyama
Ayako Senno	...	Shigeko Takamatsu
Yuriko Tashiro	...	Yoko

Storyline

Family and friends of the late Shuzo Miwa have gathered for his annual memorial service, this one marking the seventh anniversary of his passing. Three of his long time friends - married Shuzo Taguchi, married Soichi Mamiya, and widowed Seiichiro Hirayama - have long known and admitted to each other that they have always been attracted to his widow, Akiko Miwa, who they believe has gotten even more beautiful as she has matured. The three friends take it upon themselves to find a husband for the Miwa's now twenty-four year old daughter, Ayako Miwa, who they believe as beautiful as her mother, and who, as a pure innocent, deserves a good husband. Their self-appointed task is despite them knowing that Ayako does not want them to do so. She doesn't want to get married, at least not yet, as she struggles with her traditional sensibilities in post-war modern Japan. Her first priority as she sees it is to take care of her widowed mother, who would be alone if she were to get married. The ...

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Plot Keywords:

almond eyes | japanese woman | japanese man | friend | mother | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

November 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

Late Autumn

Filming Locations:

Tokyo Tower, Tokyo, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shochiku

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original title "Akibiyori" means "Clear autumn day".

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Soundtracks

1st Movement
from "Piano Sonata No.11 A Major, K.331"
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
At the scene of a dressmaking school

User Reviews

Expertly crafted but terribly familiar.

I have seen practically every film available that were directed by Yasujirô Ozu. While he's considered by many to be a genius, I would say that he was an ultra-conservative--a man who developed some interesting techniques and story ideas but never really changed with the times. So, if you see an Ozu film from 1935, 45, 55 or the early 60s, there is an amazing sameness about them--something no other director ever accomplished. This is not criticism--this is fact. Ozu did stories about the Japanese family--and very often about widowed parents striving to get their now adult children married. And, his actual techniques didn't vary much. Although "Late Autumn" is in color (a few of his later ones were), it uses the same stationary camera and floor level for the shots. Ozu truly was a man who liked to do variations on the same themes and in the same styles! Because of this, while "Late Autumn" is expertly crafted, it really isn't innovative in the least other than making both the main characters women.

This story begins with a memorial service for a man who has been dead for several years. After the service, three friends of the deceased and his widow discuss her as well as her 24 year-old daughter. They love these women and it hurts them to see the daughter is still unmarried despite being a lovely person. So, the three schemers decide that it's their task to get the girl married--whether she likes it or not! Unfortunately, their plans don't always go as they intended and ultimately it takes one of the young lady's friends to give them some assistance.

Other than this film be very mildly comic as well as the use of the three friends, the film is yet another lovely and very deliberately paced Ozu film. If you haven't seen too many of his films, then by all means watch this one. If you have and feel you've gone down this same road many times before, they try a film by another fine director. Even die-hard fans would agree that there is an amazing similarity between this and most of Ozu's films--particularly his later ones.