Review of Early Summer (1951) by Dave J — 28 May 2013
This movie is an interesting historic relic of a place and time, Japan in 1950. The war is over. The country has mostly gotten back to normal. Normal though is relative; it's the midpoint of the 20th century and life is changing.
The story is centered around an extended family and their acquaintances, especially the 28 year old unmarried daughter. It features the small dramas of normal lives.
The only question I have is why the grandparents moved to what appeared to be Japan's equivalent of Kansas. There's nothing wrong with Kansas, but if you live comfortably in a big house with your extended family in Tokyo, what attraction is there to live out the rest of your years in the middle of nowhere?
On a related note, I had been pondering green screen in movie making shortly before watching this movie. Well actually I started watching the movie and then got thinking about green screen by the time I came back to watch the rest of it. The beach scene at the end is green screen. I only mention this because I find it interesting how the tricks and techniques of story telling through movie making were already international by then. I wish I had been watching with green screen in mind from the beginning of the movie.
This review of Early Summer (1951) was written by Dave J on 28 May 2013.
Early Summer has generally received very positive reviews.
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