Sanma no aji / An Autumn Afternoon (1962) :
Brief Review -
A remarkable filmography of an Unforgettable director ends with an unexpected, ordinary and Forgettable Film. An Autumn Afternoon could probably be tested as the Weakest work of Yasujiro Ozu but being his Last film this film was expected do lot better naturally. I am not saying it's a bad film but the standard of Ozu is so high that even Very Good film looks just good and good film looks Average. Going by this equation i must say it's a good film but the real value of it stands lower compared to other Classics of Master Ozu. The film is about an aging widower arranges a marriage for his only daughter after realising that he had wasted so much time already for his own benefit. One of the major reason about this film being lesser compared to other Ozu films in content margin is it's predictability and over-simplicity. If you remember 'Banshun' (1949) where the Father was selfless and Daughter was over-protective, however, the plan is on opposite side here. The father is selfish and the daughter is pretty rude therefore the kind Nature is withdrawn. It might have worked better with strong emotions than being too simple. Chisu Ryu seemed much better in acting department than his previous roles, mainly because of those drunkard scenes. Rest of the cast is good too. An Autumn Afternoon lacks burning falmes of dialogues wherein the same simplicity kills its potential to grow further. Talking about the Cinematography, it is far better than other aspects. Ozu's same formula of catching nostalgic frames such as house parts, nature, city, train and other living elements works just the same. Overall, it's a fine film with less mistakes, it is just that the high standard of Ozu carries heavy burden which cannot be handled by any ordinary script.
RATING - 6.5/10*
By - #samthebestest
A remarkable filmography of an Unforgettable director ends with an unexpected, ordinary and Forgettable Film. An Autumn Afternoon could probably be tested as the Weakest work of Yasujiro Ozu but being his Last film this film was expected do lot better naturally. I am not saying it's a bad film but the standard of Ozu is so high that even Very Good film looks just good and good film looks Average. Going by this equation i must say it's a good film but the real value of it stands lower compared to other Classics of Master Ozu. The film is about an aging widower arranges a marriage for his only daughter after realising that he had wasted so much time already for his own benefit. One of the major reason about this film being lesser compared to other Ozu films in content margin is it's predictability and over-simplicity. If you remember 'Banshun' (1949) where the Father was selfless and Daughter was over-protective, however, the plan is on opposite side here. The father is selfish and the daughter is pretty rude therefore the kind Nature is withdrawn. It might have worked better with strong emotions than being too simple. Chisu Ryu seemed much better in acting department than his previous roles, mainly because of those drunkard scenes. Rest of the cast is good too. An Autumn Afternoon lacks burning falmes of dialogues wherein the same simplicity kills its potential to grow further. Talking about the Cinematography, it is far better than other aspects. Ozu's same formula of catching nostalgic frames such as house parts, nature, city, train and other living elements works just the same. Overall, it's a fine film with less mistakes, it is just that the high standard of Ozu carries heavy burden which cannot be handled by any ordinary script.
RATING - 6.5/10*
By - #samthebestest