Haruko
Sugimura, Chishu Ryu, Teiji Takahashi , Kumeko Urabe, So Yamamura,
Chikage Awashima, Kuniko Miyake .
In his first film after
the commercial and critical success of Tokyo Story, Ozu examines
life in postwar Japan through the eyes of a young salaryman, dissatisfied
with career and marriage, who begins an affair with a flirtatious
co-worker.
Like most of director Yasujiro Ozu's work,
Early Spring is a deceptively simple family drama: a middle-aged
office worker, bored with dreary routines of his job and his marriage,
succumbs to a brief fling with the office flirt. His wife inevitably
discovers his infidelity, but when he accepts a transfer to the
country, she follows him to start their life anew. Ozu's depiction
of marital difficulties is hardly depressing. Instead he employs
his signature warmth, sensitivity, and humor to create a touching,
thoughtful film. |