Early Spring – Soshun (1956)

Directed by: Yasujirô Ozu | 144 minutes | drama | Actors: Chikage Awashima, Ryô Ikebe, Teiji Takahashi, Keiko Kishi, Chishû Ryû, Sô Yamamura, Takako Fujino, Masami Taura, Haruko Sugimura, Kumeko Urabe, Kuniko Miyake, Eijirô Tôno, Kôji Mitsui, Daisuke Kató, Fujio Chieko Nakakita, Kazuko Yamamoto

Working hard, drinking a lot, hanging out and dwelling on unpleasant changes in life; like many films by Japanese director Ozu, these elements are regularly seen in ‘Early Spring’. The director’s films of ‘Tokyo Story’ (1953) and ‘Late Spring’ (1949) are almost always about love and the complications that come with it. ‘Early Spring’ focuses on the difficult relationship of a young couple in Tokyo. Once again, Ozu shows that he is the master of creating realistic dramas about the average Japanese from the last century. With his heartbreaking scenes, Ozu is one of the leading directors in Japanese film history.

The ironic thing about Ozu’s oeuvre is that he never married himself and lived with his mother all his life. Yet relationships always play the biggest role in his films. ‘Early Spring’ is about Masako Sugiyama (Chikage Awashima), whom his colleagues affectionately call ‘Sugi’. His marriage to Shôji (Ryô Ikebe) is not going well, although it is not clear why. Masako often comes home late after a night out with his colleagues. He plays mahjong, is not averse to a drink and immediately dives into bed as soon as he gets home. He also prefers to hang out with his female colleague Chiyo (Keiko Kishi), which eventually leads to an affair. Shôji is therefore often alone at home and often hears from other women that her husband is often absent, unlike others. Slowly she becomes suspicious and begins to suspect the worst.

Ozu makes sure that ‘Early Spring’ feels very comfortable in its own way. He has always been a very perfectionist. His trademark is the low-angle camera with a carefully selected set. It almost feels like someone is wrapping a warm blanket around you after a cold walk. Yet there is always a melancholic layer in his films, as in ‘Early Spring’. While some directors see film as a way to let the viewer escape from reality, Ozu confronts the viewer with the problems that life brings. After work, Masako and his colleagues enjoy singing in a bar, but every now and then there is also talk that the life of a simple worker in the office is very disappointing. Masako is all too aware of this. He comes across as exhausted after every working day. Even the attention of his wife and Chiyo does not bring joy. Why is he having an affair with Chiyo if it doesn’t bring him pleasure? Maybe it’s an attempt to bring some tension into his life, even if it only brings misery in the end. Ozu occasionally expresses these sad thoughts through his actors. Rarely do his characters show how they feel deep down. When they finally take a moment to express their grief, it feels like a slap in the face. Then they go back to their daily routine and the ‘perfect’ harmony returns. Cheerful music and beautiful atmospheric images of Tokyo hide the true feelings of the lonely characters.

For the lover of Ozu’s style, ‘Early Spring’ is a bull’s eye. With its two hours, maybe a quarter of an hour could have been done to keep the viewer’s attention longer. Nevertheless, “Early Spring” is one of Ozu’s many excellent films. With his simple, yet moving style, he manages to amaze time and again.