An Autumn Afternoon (1962)

 Yasujiro Ozu's "An Autumn Afternoon"


A bittersweet end to the great career of Yasujiro Ozu, 1962's "An Autumn Afternoon" is a summation of a great man's oeuvre. I find myself melancholic after having watched his expansive career of the past several years of my life. His films are gentle, yet impactful. My comfort with his familiar style meshes with the domesticity of his characters. Watching an Ozu film almost feels like returning home.

Before dying at the age of 60 the following year, Ozu completed "An Autumn Afternoon," in which he institutes themes of finality and coming to terms with the ever-changing nature of life. It centers on an aging widower who enlists the help of his family to get his two unmarried children married. The plot is not very atypical of an Ozu, nor is his quiet musings on life's loneliness. 

Chishu Ryu, who had worked in Ozu films since Ozu's debut in 1928, plays the aging widower. In in a way, Ryu is a stand-in for Ozu. He quietly accepts the fleeting nature of life and the impending distance of those around him - something that has been integral to Ozu films time and time again. This is precisely why "An Autumn Afternoon" acts as a final summation of his career. It boils down his bare essential themes into a conclusory statement. 



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