This is another 'slice of life' film from famed Japanese director Yasujirô Ozu. The protagonist is Shoji Sugiyama, a late 30s 'salary man' (white collar office worker), who lives in Tokyo with his devoted wife, Masako. The couple had a child who died (for unknown reasons) and they now appear to resign themselves to being a childless couple for the rest of their marriage.
Ozu spends a good deal of time also focusing on Sugi's colleagues at the office. One major theme is dissatisfaction. There is little chance that any of the workers have a chance to advance to a higher position and all seem to agree that it's very difficult making ends meet on such a low salary. Prospects for retirement are even more dim, given the virtually non-existent retirement benefits. Nonetheless, the workers try to make the best of their drab and routine lives by engaging in communal activities such as 'noodle parties' and trips to the beach.
It's on one such trip to the beach, when Sugi gets to know a younger office worker, 'Goldfish', played by Keiko Kishi (the super attractive Kishi can be seen in middle age in the acclaimed 1983 film, 'The Makioka Sisters'). She aggressively goes after Sugi and they end up having a brief affair. The rest of the film focuses on the conflict between Sugi and Masako, after she gets wind of the affair, and how they eventually resolve the conflict.
Ozu wisely does not simply focus on the conflict between the two principals, but also brings in other characters, that depict the wider canvas of the community. Two strong scenes come to the mind: first, after Sugi's get together with some war veteran buddies, he invites two of them home and in perhaps the film's most comic scene, the two make fools of themselves, as they are completely intoxicated; a later more dramatic scene, features the male office workers castigating Goldfish, for her rumored affair with Sugi. What's interesting about this scene is how Goldfish steadfastly denies any involvement with Sugi, despite our knowledge to the contrary.
The major problem with 'Early Spring' is its slow pace. It's a good half hour before the break into the second act, the aforementioned extra-marital affair, actually occurs. Ozu also throws in a seemingly unnecessary sub-plot of the dying co-worker, Miura. Is the point to introduce the more universal theme of the 'fragility of life' or to suggest that this particular officer worker was freed from the shackles of a lifetime of drudgery as a devoted 'salary man'? Whatever the case, it simply is dragged out and goes on for much too long.
While Sugi and Goldfish's affair may have been risqué for its time, the resolution is markedly more staid. After Goldfish gives up on 'stalking' Sugi (she has a number of 'meltdowns' in front of Sugi, when it's clear he's no longer interested in her), eventually she shakes his hand at a farewell party and now has given up on the idea of pursuing him.
As for Masako, against her mother's advice, she decides to leave Sugi, to teach him a lesson. Eventually, after Sugi is transferred to a provincial town, she takes her mother's advice to 'not make things worse' and joins him there and agrees with him, to 'start over'. If only more couples in America were willing to follow Sugi and Masako's course of action, martial disputes that occur here, might have better resolutions.
I ended up watching 'Early Spring' a second time and found it more absorbing upon second viewing. Nonetheless, this is a film that still needed quite a bit of judicious editing. The running time of 145 minutes is way too long for a film that could have been 45 minutes shorter.
Ozu spends a good deal of time also focusing on Sugi's colleagues at the office. One major theme is dissatisfaction. There is little chance that any of the workers have a chance to advance to a higher position and all seem to agree that it's very difficult making ends meet on such a low salary. Prospects for retirement are even more dim, given the virtually non-existent retirement benefits. Nonetheless, the workers try to make the best of their drab and routine lives by engaging in communal activities such as 'noodle parties' and trips to the beach.
It's on one such trip to the beach, when Sugi gets to know a younger office worker, 'Goldfish', played by Keiko Kishi (the super attractive Kishi can be seen in middle age in the acclaimed 1983 film, 'The Makioka Sisters'). She aggressively goes after Sugi and they end up having a brief affair. The rest of the film focuses on the conflict between Sugi and Masako, after she gets wind of the affair, and how they eventually resolve the conflict.
Ozu wisely does not simply focus on the conflict between the two principals, but also brings in other characters, that depict the wider canvas of the community. Two strong scenes come to the mind: first, after Sugi's get together with some war veteran buddies, he invites two of them home and in perhaps the film's most comic scene, the two make fools of themselves, as they are completely intoxicated; a later more dramatic scene, features the male office workers castigating Goldfish, for her rumored affair with Sugi. What's interesting about this scene is how Goldfish steadfastly denies any involvement with Sugi, despite our knowledge to the contrary.
The major problem with 'Early Spring' is its slow pace. It's a good half hour before the break into the second act, the aforementioned extra-marital affair, actually occurs. Ozu also throws in a seemingly unnecessary sub-plot of the dying co-worker, Miura. Is the point to introduce the more universal theme of the 'fragility of life' or to suggest that this particular officer worker was freed from the shackles of a lifetime of drudgery as a devoted 'salary man'? Whatever the case, it simply is dragged out and goes on for much too long.
While Sugi and Goldfish's affair may have been risqué for its time, the resolution is markedly more staid. After Goldfish gives up on 'stalking' Sugi (she has a number of 'meltdowns' in front of Sugi, when it's clear he's no longer interested in her), eventually she shakes his hand at a farewell party and now has given up on the idea of pursuing him.
As for Masako, against her mother's advice, she decides to leave Sugi, to teach him a lesson. Eventually, after Sugi is transferred to a provincial town, she takes her mother's advice to 'not make things worse' and joins him there and agrees with him, to 'start over'. If only more couples in America were willing to follow Sugi and Masako's course of action, martial disputes that occur here, might have better resolutions.
I ended up watching 'Early Spring' a second time and found it more absorbing upon second viewing. Nonetheless, this is a film that still needed quite a bit of judicious editing. The running time of 145 minutes is way too long for a film that could have been 45 minutes shorter.
