“Yasujiro Ozu’s 1949 film inaugurated his majestic late period: it’s here that he decisively renounces melodrama (and, indeed, most surface action of any kind) and lets his camera settle into the still, long-take contemplation.”
Chishû Ryû stars as Shukichi Somiya, an elderly widower who feels compelled to marry off his beloved only daughter, Noriko (Setsuko Hara). Set in post-War Japan, Late Spring belongs to the type of Japanese film known as shomingeki, a genre that deals with the ordinary daily lives of working class and middle class people of modern times.
Those are our three reasons. What are yours? Our now on DVD. Out on Blu-ray 4/17: http://www.criterion.com/films/298-late-spring