Late Autumn

This portrait of family love and conflict centers on Ayako, a young woman who resists marriage because she does not want to leave her widowed mother alone. Three friends of the late husband seek to find matches for Ayako to no avail. But Ayako’s resolve changes when her mother begins to consider her own remarriage.

Late Autumn reworks plot elements and themes of Ozu’s 1949 masterpiece Late Spring. Actress Setsuko Hara played the daughter in the earlier film and returns here as the widowed parent, pointing to Ozu’s regular theme of life’s repeating cycles. Description adapted from Janus Films.

Director: Yasujiro Ozu. Country: Japan. Released: 1960. Length: 128 min. Format: 35mm. Language: Japanese with English subtitles.
Image courtesy of Janus Films