Film: Early Summer
Release date: 19th July 2010
Certificate: U
Running time: 125 mins
Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Starring: Setsuko Hara, Mamiya, Chishû Ryû, Chikage Awashima, Kuniko Miyake, Ichirô Sugai
Genre: Drama
Studio: BFI
Format: DVD & Blu-ray
Country: Japan
Continuing his collaboration with Setsuko Hara, Early Summer is the second film in Yasujiro Ozu’s Noriko trilogy. Focusing on many of themes explored throughout his films, this is another highpoint in a directing career filled with them.
Noriko is a successful, middle class girl making her way in post war Japan. She lives in a large household comprised of her parents and her brother’s family.
Dividing her time between work, socialising with her friends and helping out her family, Noriko has little time for romance and marriage - this is a concern for her family, who believe she must be wed.
Politically minded and empowered by the social shift that has occurred after the war, Noriko has radical ideas about relationships and marriage, which complicates things when a marriage is orchestrated for her. Meanwhile, her parents lament the loss of family and friends to the war, and place hope in the happiness of their daughter.
Noriko eventually chooses to marry her old friend Kenkichi, as a special favour to his mother, but this decision does not sit well with her family. Noriko finally decides to ignore her families concerns and marry Kenkichi…
Like many of the films made in the latter half of Yasujiro Ozu’s prolific career, Early Summer is about the aftermath of war and the splintering effect it can have on the modern Japanese family. It’s also about the struggle of the individual against the influence of accepted society and familial meddling.
In this case, the one striving to make her own way in life, unhindered by the marital machinations of her family, is Noriko, played once again by the radiant Setsuko Hara. Ozu chooses to focus on the family unit and how tensions can often rise from a steadfast adherence to tradition. Noriko’s family wishes her to be wed for what they believe to be her own good, not for her happiness. Noriko, who argues women’s rights with her co-workers, and chides her married friends, chooses to marry because she feels it is right for her.
Hara is perfect in the central role - her unwavering optimism and playful smile completely at odds with those around her. Her mother and father struggle to cope with the loss of their son, while her brother Koichi (played by Tokyo Story’s Chisu Ryu) is frustrated by his sister’s hesitations. Hara is often a contrasting presence in Ozu’s films, and Early Summer is no exception.
Ultimately a positive story, like many of the director’s films, there are moments of overwhelming sadness. With Early Summer, it is the divisive conclusion, which sees a resolution to the central dilemma at the cost of the central characters happiness. If anything this highlights Ozu’s intelligent approach to traditional narrative - there is no hope for the characters, just the promise of hope.
As a portrait of the Japanese family unit after World War II, Early Summer is a triumph. Ozu once again adds political subtext and social commentary to a conventional narrative, coaxing another mesmerising performance out of Setsuko Hara along the way. KT
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