Kohayagawa-ke no aki (1961)

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1. 

   Siskoid

   Yasujirô Ozu gets me. Or I get him. Whichever. Even though his films are technically slow and quiet, I get drawn in, I burst out laughing, I break into tears. At the subtlest things. Case in point, The End of Summer, a tragicomedy about a large family whose patriarch meets up with his old mistress almost 20 years after his affair, to some fretting, though that's hardly the only subplot to follow. In fact, an hour in, you may not be sure how each character is related to the others, to the point where ancillary characters poke fun at it. Ozu has a lot of season-titled movies and this one is apt. As the family straddles pre and post war generations, it is about the end of an era. After this will be the time to finally make decisions that have been held back (resisting the future is a common theme in Ozu). And though perhaps it's the sweet old patriarch that's kept the family mostly grounded in Japanese traditionalism, we'll come to realize he's also a free spirit, and it's something he's given his children, which is exactly how why they embrace modernity. Amusing enough that I laughed out loud several times, The End of Summer nevertheless had me weeping by the end. The intimacy with the characters that Ozu creates is responsible for both ends of the spectrum. 4 years 10 months ago
2. 

   Armoreska

   Ah yes the cycle of struggle n suffering continues. New humans will be made. All is well with the world. 3 years 2 months ago

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