Kohayagawa-ke no aki (1961)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Yasujiro Ozu

Writers:

Kôgo Noda (screenplay) &
Yasujiro Ozu (screenplay)

Release Date:

February 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Heart Attack | Extramarital Affair | Honor

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Ganjiro Nakamura	...	Kohayagawa Banpei
Setsuko Hara	...	Akiko
Yôko Tsukasa	...	Noriko, second daughter
Michiyo Aratama	...	Fumiko, eldest daughter
Keiju Kobayashi	...	Hisao, Fumiko's husband
Masahiko Shimazu	...	Masao, thier son
Hisaya Morishige	...	Isomura Eiichirou
Chieko Naniwa	...	Sasaki Tsune
Reiko Dan	...	Yuriko, her daughter
Haruko Sugimura	...	Katou Shige
Daisuke Katô	...	Kitagawa Yanosuke
Haruko Togo	...	Kitagawa Teruko
Yumi Shirakawa	...	Nakanishi Takako
Akira Takarada	...	Teramoto Tadashi
Kyû Sazanka	...	Yamaguchi, Chief clerk

Also Known As:

Autumn for the Kohayagawa Family (literal English title)
Early Autumn
The End of Summer (International: English title)
The Last of Summer

Runtime:

Japan:103 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Colour:

Black and White | Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (re-rating)

Company:

Toho Company

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ikite wa mita keredo - Ozu Yasujirô den (1983)

The Gang Is All Here

The End Of Summer is another Ozu film about making a love connection, but this time there are multiple characters involved. One of the Ozu twists is the great Ganjiro Nakamura, who plays the father. He is trying to marry off his three daughters while he is visiting an old flame. One of the daughters is played by Yoko Tsukasa, who movingly played Setsuko Hara's daughter in the equally absorbing Late Autumn. Here, Mr. Nakamura provides the film's comedy, an old man looking for some action from a former mistress. However, this film is not really a comedy. Its a story about life events, the changes in ones personal destiny. Its hot in the movie, since a few characters fan themselves, hence the title. Not quite as good as Tokyo Story, Late Spring or Late Autumn, but that is such a tall order, I don't feel anything but admiration for this film. One great thing about this film is that many actors in prior Ozu films are here, making it almost an ensemble piece. I would have liked more of Setsuko Hara's character, but just seeing her in a film is worth anything. This film also works almost like a play, little stories molded together into one film. Worth your time and, as it was Ozu's penultimate film, its practically required viewing.