tobias_681 Review of An Autumn Afternoon

An Autumn Afternoon (1962)

The first Ozu film that fully clicked with me - a short review

[10/10 · 21 February 2016]

At times I find Ozu's films a little stale. I liked the films I've seen yet (Late Spring, Tokyo Story and Floating Weeds) however I couldn't fall in love with any of them. This time around (in An Autumn Afternoon) I really loved the atmosphere - it's absorbing. Ozu frames the cityscapes in a completely unique and spellbinding way (really, wow). Even characters walking along a hallway gave me goosebumps. Maybe it's the most spot on movie about post-modernity. All scenes capture that feeling so brilliantly. All the small moments (the son playing golf, the daughter and her brothers friend waiting at the train station, the father and his friends talking together or even just the father and his children sitting in the house) add up to an incredible picture. Almost every shot is well framed that the composition always indicates some sort of distance. There's also that brilliant scene at the bar with the father and the guy who was part of the military as well. It's when you realize that the illusions broke but that there isn't much left now. There's that wishing you could return (what if Japan had won the war) but it's not possible. It's indicative for much of the film, the characters know what they want but it's incredibly hard to get. However the film yet has some happiness about it and Ozu's use of music is magnificent. It hums its way right into your heart.