Late Autumn / A Mother Should Be Loved [DVD + Blu-ray] [1960]

These two films by Yasujiro Ozu surely have to be counted among the great masterpieces of world cinema. I have only seen four of his films but they suggest he has something in common with Eric Rohmer, both in the modest domestic settings and the use of dialogue to carry much of the meaning (not in the silent film, of course). Using quite economical means he builds an effect of surprising emotional power and great poise. The two films presented here were made 26 years apart, but the concerns with family life and above all with parent/adult child relationships remain constant. The earlier film focuses more exclusively on the family unit and is possibly freer in its visual style, with expressive use of lighting and framing. Late Autumn is more straightforward in these respects, and might seem less lyrical were it not for the very subtle effects of the dialogue and the wonderfully nuanced acting of all involved. Ozu certainly knew how to choose actors with very expressive faces, and the interaction between the mother and daughter could hardly be more affecting, without the slightest recourse to melodrama. Compared to other films on this theme - Autumn Sonata and Imitation of Life, for instance, this one seems to go the deepest and yet be very life-affirming. Setsuko Hara is a radiant actress who worked with the director a number of times, often in younger roles (in Tokyo Story she is the daughter who delivers the unforgettable line about how disappointing life is). What is brilliant here, apart from her remarkable grace, is the way she holds so much back, yet you can sense it in her demeanour, although the daughter, with her lack of experience and charged emotional state, doesn't. This makes the later scenes between them ineffably moving, and I have never seen a film end more simply but with so much emotional force. It really stays with you long afterwards ...

A Mother Should Be Loved uses the visuals to great effect but you do feel that dialogue helped to complete Ozu's art. Nevertheless the lighting and the faces of the actors certainly speak, in a sense. I did wonder whether a slight lack of clarity was more the result of the translation of the captions that are used, or whether they would be clearer to someone from the culture, or indeed whether a certain lack of precision was part of the poetic effect. At all events it does not detract from the film to be unsure ... There are also wonderful shafts of humour, the two brothers at one point smoking pipes with one wearing a top hat, and later a bowler hat appears, recalling Laurel and Hardy. The later film dispenses with overt comic props but has more humour in its vision of life. I would say these are necessary films for anyone interested in what cinema can achieve; they expand our own feeling of happiness with their generous tone and spiritual uplift.

I've been replacing my Criterion Collection/Eclipse Ozu DVD's with the BFI's blu rays which feature new transfers. These are breathtaking. The textures of the fabrics and the grain of the wood paneling has never been so palpable in a home theatre. "Late Autumn" is my favorite color film by Ozu. The tones run a bit greener here than with Criterion, which unfaithfully dials up the red tones to make the image more suitable for Western eyes, I suppose. The BFI transfers are incredibly faithful to the original source. Also fantastic is the silent film "A Mother Should Be Loved" which is an improvement over the HK Panorama edition.