Masters: Yasujiro Ozu’s Late Spring
“If you polled the world’s film critics, asking them who was the most universal and beloved of all directors. Ozu would rank at or near the top of the list, along with Jean Renoir, Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock. To love movies without loving Ozu is an impossibility.” – Roger Ebert
The “most Japanese” of Japan’s great directors, Yasujiro Ozu’s quietly realistic and superbly composed films explored the tensions of a country trying to reconcile modern and traditional values. His style of simplicity and poetry profoundly influenced directors around the world.
One of the most powerful of Yasujiro Ozu’s family portraits, Late Spring tells the story of a widowed father who feels compelled to marry off his beloved only daughter. Eminent Ozu players Chishu Ryu and Setsuko Hara command this poignant tale of love and loss in postwar Japan, which remains as potent today as ever—and a strong justification for its maker’s inclusion in the pantheon of cinema’s greatest directors. “Immensely affecting. One of Ozu’s finest.” (Vincent Canby, New York Times)
The screening will be preceded by a talk by Freer Curator of Film Tom Vick on Ozu’s career and Late Spring’s subtle yet powerful portrait of postwar Japanese life.
Series Events
Screening and Discussion of Late Spring
Tue, May 17, 2:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Noriko (Setsuko Hara) is perfectly happy living at home with her widowed father, Shukichi (Chishu Ryu), and has no plans to marry — that is, until her aunt Masa (Haruko Sugimura) convinces Shukichi that unless he marries off his 27-year-old daughter soon, she will likely remain alone for the rest of her life. When Noriko resists Masa’s matchmaking, Shukichi is forced to deceive his daughter and sacrifice his own happiness in order to do what he believes is right. Lecture and post-film discussion hosted by Freer Gallery of Art Film Curator Tom Vick. 1949, NR, 108 min, in Japanese with English subtitles
Tickets: $15 / $12 Avalon members
Series Curator
An expert in Asian film, Tom Vick is the curator of film at the Freer and Sackler, The Smithsonian’s Museums of Asian Art. He holds a BA in literature from Purchase College in New York and an MFA in film/video from California Institute of the Arts. Formerly Tom was the coordinator of film programs at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. He is a consultant for the International Film Festival Rotterdam and has served on the juries of the Korean Film Festival in Los Angeles, the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal, and Filmfest DC. He has contributed essays to World Cinema Directory: Japan, Film Festival Yearbook, Asian Geographic, and other publications. His book, Asian Cinema: A Field Guide (2008) provides an insightful overview of the dynamic world of Asian cinema. He is currently working on a book about Japanese filmmaker Seijun Suzuki.