Spoiler Warning: This discussion has very few spoilers: some set up from the first act, a general idea of the narrative at hand.
















Rating: 4 out of 5.

"It's as if my glorious life was but a dream within a dream."

Yasujirō Ozu is a real blind spot in my cinematic journey so far, as are most of the Japanese 60s canon of greats like Akira Kurosawa and Masaki Kobayashi. However, The End of Summer was a pretty interesting introduction to the form and art of Japanese cinema. It certainly has made me meditate on life and death, family and relationships. Yet, what it has made me do most is seek out more of the oeuvre of 60s Japanese greats.

I don't have a great deal to say about The End of Summer, other than the fact that I found it to be a pretty incredible experience. I've seen clips and read a lot about the very disarming and direct manner of filming that is totally different from the way Western cinema is shot. The way characters tend to look straight down the camera when speaking as though we are in conversation with them is so against what I know as a spectator, yet becomes oddly enchanting from the minute it begins. I think it helps a great deal that performers like Setsuko Hara, Yoko Tsukasa, Nakamura Ganjirō II, and Michiyo Aratama are particularly wonderful and add a lot of nuance to a story full of complex characters.

I found the inner workings of each relationship to become a little muddled and confusing here and there, but as the film goes on, things become much clearer. It was a real spectacle to see some of 1960s Japan; the architecture and advancing modernisation of a part of the globe I've never really seen was unbelievably fun. The contrast between the neon lights of the city and the serene gardens and homes of the Kohayakawa family was similarly fascinating. To see cultures that you don't fully understand, and begin to learn a little more about, is a tremendous benefit to watching foreign cinema; this is no different.

I really enjoyed The End of Summer. It's very different to the kind of cinema I have been consuming recently, and I'm very glad I caught it. The innate beauty that Ozu finds with the camera is captivating to see with a wicked combination of shots in the final third that elevated the film greatly in my eyes.

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