potential spoilers ahead:

1956) Early Spring
Early Spring stands out in the Ozu canon for a few reasons. Firstly, the subject matter, is of an affair, rather than the more common theme in Ozu’s work, trying to find a husband for a young lady. The second thing that makes the film stand out a little is that, at least in the early going, there is a stylistic shift toward a more common filmmaking style, particularly in where we follow the workers leaving their houses and going to work. This is very uncommon for Ozu, as in his films we rarely watch any one go from one destination to the next, and never with out dialogue. I guess what I am getting at is that Ozu’s use of montage in the early part of the film was shocking, for me, and allowed me to breathe a slightly different air about this film.

Early Spring is one of Ozu’s longest, and given that there isn’t the normal double-crossing marriage plot involved in Early Spring Ozu allows ample time to introduce us to all of the characters and what their life and work is like. And its not right away that the wheels of the plot begin to move, but this is perfectly fine with me, as Ozu constructs and paces everything so well, the set up is so completely natural for the viewer.

There is a lot to this film, and here Ozu confronts an issue that crosses all cultures and one that is kept quiet in all cultures, but Ozu’s own in particular. Masaka deals with her husband’s infidelity as appropriately as she can for 1950s Japan, but also finds it in her heart to forgive Sugiyama. And Goldfish, who is not evil, only arroused by temptation, comes to feel remorse for her part in the affair. In the end I believe that Shoji is truly sorry for his infidelity, and that Masaka forgives him, though I don’t buy her ‘confession’ that it was partly her fault, I understand her need to make Shoji feel less like a sh!t.

One of Ozu’s better films on an important theme, and a much different theme than his normal plowing ground.