Early Spring (1956)

 Yasujiro Ozu's "Early Spring"

By the time "Early Spring" was released in 1956, Yasujiro Ozu had not made a film in three years - since his 1953 masterpiece "Tokyo Story." For most directors, that's not entirely noteworthy. However, as it was typical of Ozu to crank out a film a year, this hiatus was felt. And with "Tokyo Story" being the global phenomenon it was, the pressure was on for Ozu to deliver something great.

"Early Spring" centers on a childless couple whose marriage fractures after the husband, Shoji, has an affair with a woman who works in his office. Shoji, a white collar salaried employee, passively engages with everything in his empty life. His wife, Masako, stays at home while he is at work all day, passing the time with friends and family visits. Their lives are empty and hollow due to both their aimlessness professionally, along with the recent death of their infant son.

On the surface, this film seemingly is about an extramarital affair, which is true plot-wise. However, the main thematic point Ozu seems to be making is the emptiness of modernity and contemporary work culture. As Ozu said himself, "I wanted to portray what you might call the pathos of the white-collar life." Our male protagonist, Shoji, is clearly unhappy with the current state of his life, despite not outwardly expressing any sort of passionate emotion about it. The characters behave passively in their lives and don't have anything of note to look forward to in life. It's a modern world with a culture of salaried employment that is sucking the life and meaning out of everything and everyone.

What's great about watching an Ozu film is how intimate it all feels. I've written extensively about Ozu's directional style in previous reviews of his other films, so I won't beat a dead horse. However, Ozu has a way of making the characters on screen feel so intimate, that they seemingly become you. While the characters in "Early Spring," (or any of his films) aren't excessively expressive, it's quite astonishing that one feels so in tune with them. Very often, I will feel as though Ozu sees me as a human being through his characters. This is particularly true with "Early Spring," in which Shoji's passivity, modern malaise, and white-collar depression all hit pretty close to home. Watching an Ozu film is like watching a reflection in a mirror.

"Early Spring" was a bit of a departure for Ozu in his work, although not dramatically. It was a film more focused on modernity, which was becoming an increasingly touched-upon topic in films at that time. The disillusionment of the middle class in a capitalist utopia has never felt so intimately real, thanks to Ozu's masterful brushstrokes. I have to give myself time to sit with an Ozu film long after its over, and "Early Spring" is no different.