Early Summer

Like any of Yasujiro Ozu's best-known films, Early Summer (1951) is a marvel of cinematic simplicity, revealing layers of depth through multiple viewings. Although it may seem at first that Ozu's family tale is too simple, looks are deceiving, as closer study reveals an intensely structured, highly formalized example of Ozu's transcendental realism, focusing on the dilemma of 28-year-old Noriko (played by the immensely popular Setsuko Hara), whose late-breaking decision to marry sends unexpected shock waves through three generations of her close-knit family. While providing a vivid portrait of liberated womanhood in postwar Japan, this lighthearted yet quietly devastating drama also serves as a gentle study of tradition vs. modernity, and the clash between conformity and independence. It's also a triumph of DVD-as-film-school: As he did for Criterion's release of A Story of Floating Weeds, the distinguished scholar Donald Richie provides an eloquent full-length commentary as valuable as the film itself, thoroughly exploring the purpose of Ozu's low-angle style, the influence of Ernst Lubitsch, the importance of Setsuko as a role model for Japanese girls, stylistic comparisons to Jane Austen's fiction, and a variety of other relevant topics. "Ozu's Films from Behind the Scenes" gathers three of Ozu's collaborators for affectionate reminiscence, and mini-essays by Ozu expert David Bordwell and longtime Ozu admirer Jim Jarmusch lend further appreciation from critical and personal perspectives. This is Criterion's fifth Ozu release on DVD, and like the others, it's highly recommended. (J. Shannon)