Early Summer

Early Summer is a 1951 Japanese film directed by Yasujirō Ozu, with Setsuko Hara as Noriko Mamiya, unmarried at twenty-eight. It centres on a three-generation household in Kamakura: the family is arranging a suitable match for Noriko when she settles on her own to marry Kenkichi, a neighbouring doctor with a small daughter. Once that is decided the household breaks up and the grandparents move to the countryside. The film proceeds through domestic routine and conversation and does not stage its conflicts directly. Ozu works throughout from a fixed low camera, placing shots of empty space between scenes and letting characters enter and leave a held frame. A late sequence shows a field of barley moving in the wind. This is the second of Hara's three Noriko roles.

Mainland China

麦秋

Hong Kong

麥秋

Taiwan

麥秋

English

Early Summer

Original

麦秋

• Setsuko Hara