LATE SPRING
Fri, Jul 9, 2010, at 7 PM
Sun, Jul 11, 2010, at 2 PM

DIRECTOR: YASUJIRO OZU
JAPAN, 1949

The director’s personal favorite, LATE SPRING marked the Ozu debut of Setsuko Hara, in the first of many classic pairings with regular Chishu Ryu. Hara plays Noriko, a loving, uncommonly old-fashioned daughter who refuses to marry so that she can take care of her widowed father, Professor Somiya (Ryu). When Somiya begins to worry that she might grow despondent once he passes away, he devises a ruse to incite her to marry—namely, pretending to consider remarriage himself. A film of subtle glances and quiet, eloquent gestures, LATE SPRING contains one of the most indelible images Ozu ever put to screen: the sight of Ryu in an empty house, peeling an apple. “Ozu’s greatest achievement and, thus, one of the ten best films of all time.”—Stuart Byron, The Village Voice.

( 108 min )

EARLY SUMMER
Sat, Jul 10, 2010, at 6 PM
Sun, Jul 11, 2010, at 4:30 PM

DIRECTOR: YASUJIRO OZU
JAPAN, 1951

The Mamiya family is seeking a husband for their daughter Noriko, but she has ideas of her own. Played by the extraordinary Setsuko Hara, Noriko impulsively chooses her childhood friend, at once fulfilling her family’s desires and tearing them apart. A seemingly simple story, EARLY SUMMER is one of Ozu’s most complex works, a nuanced examination of life’s changes across three generations.

( 125 min )

TOKYO STORY
Sat, Jul 10, 2010, at 8:30 PM
Sun, Jul 11, 2010, at 7 PM

DIRECTOR: YASUJIRO OZU
JAPAN, 1953

Ozu’s sad, simple story is regularly included in international critics’ top ten polls and remains his acknowledged masterpiece. Examining the widening gap between Japan’s generations, Ozu tells the story of an older couple’s visit to the city to see their children, who, absorbed with their own lives, treat them with indifference and ingratitude. Only their daughter-in-law, widowed in the war, is happy to see them. “One of the greatest of all Japanese pictures. Ozu’s style, now completely refined, utterly economical, creates a film which is unforgettable because it is so right, so true, and because it demands so much from its audience.”—Donald Ritchie.

( 134 min )

NW Film Center
1219 SW Park Avenue, Portland
www.nwfilm.org