Loved this movie but the meaning totally went over my head. It wasn't until I listened to the audio commentary that I got it. And wow, now I enjoy it 10x more.
On the surface it's the story of a daughter & her father who wants her to get married. Straightforward, simple and enjoyable as is. But what it's really about is the post-WW2 reconstruction of Japan, in particular about America's occupation, rewriting Japan's constitution to include rights for women and freedom for the individual... for better or worse.
Before the war, most marriages were arranged, and wives weren't allowed to own property or divorce their husbands. Girls had to be married by their early 20s. Noriko's aunt encapsulates this old way of thinking; she is always in traditional Japanese attire with the old manners & customs, arranging a marriage for Noriko. The aunt represents pre-war Japan.
Noriko's friend is America. Immediately after the war she married for love, later divorced her husband and is now a successful single professional. She dresses in more casual attire, has a Western apartment with sofas, chairs & doors, bakes strawberry shortcake, and in case you missed it the camera even gives us a closeup of a stack of books on her table, all in English, one of which is titled "The Way of USA".
Noriko herself doesn't want to get married and aligns herself mostly with her friend, but her father aligns himself more closely to the aunt. West & East are perfectly balanced and Ozu doesn't preach which is better or worse but presents a snapshot of 1948 Japan, when the film was made, like a historical document showing the complex state of Japanese society right after the war. Somehow he managed to tell it all within this simple story of a daughter & father. Mind blowingly brilliant, and also just plain beautiful to watch.
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Reply by sam0t
on September 18, 2023 at 12:45 AM
Hey there rooprect and was in the same boat as you after watching Late Spring recently. During the film I understood that there was more to the movie than what's on the surface, but didn't quite grasp it fully.
So before checking your assessment, Late Spring was for me just a heartwarming story about a daughter not wanting to move forward in life, but your added insight surely made the film a much more complete experience, thank you for that!
Reply by rooprect
on September 18, 2023 at 9:57 AM
Hey sam, glad it helped! If you can get your hands on a Criterion DVD, the commentary & bonus features explain it a lot better with more examples. It's amazing how much Ozu packed under the surface, all without disrupting the simple story on top. So like you said, we can enjoy it just as much as a heartwarming story of a daughter not wanting to move forward.
Ironically in this case, the father's idea of moving "forward" is going back to the old tradition of marriage. So by resisting and clinging to her old way of being single ("backward" according to the father), she's actually being quite progressive ("forward" from a social perspective). If you can wrap your head around that!