Review of An Autumn Afternoon (1962) by Walter M — 20 Apr 2010
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu, "An Autumn Afternoon" is a generally agreeable, if overly familiar, movie about Shuhei Hirayama(Chishu Ryu) who is starting to wonder if at the ripe old age of 24, his daughter Michiko(Shima Iwashita), should be married by now, instead of taking care of him and and his younger son Kazuo(Shinichiro Mikami).
In return, she is worried that they will be lonely and incapable of taking care of themselves without her. Anyway, Shuhei probably drinks too much. Giving him more impetus to act is a chance meeting and reunion with one of his old teachers(Eijiro Tono), who now owns a noodle shop.
Another chance meeting with a man who served under him during the war only serves to remind him how much camaraderie there was during a time of death and destruction, compared to how lonely he is now.
In the end, the movie is really about compromise which is necessary in any relationship. Nobody ever truly gets what they want, just a little satisfaction if we are lucky.
This review of An Autumn Afternoon (1962) was written by Walter M on 20 Apr 2010.
An Autumn Afternoon has generally received very positive reviews.
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