Early Spring came between Ozu's incredible masterpieces Tokyo Story and Tokyo Twilight. No surprise then, that it kind of falls flat in places. It's by no means a bad film, but it adds a bit too much complexity, making the focus confusing at points. The film starts as a comment on the salary man. The opening scenes are both funny and sad, as we see the empty streets of Japan gradually fill with men and women in white shirts. They all come together at the subway station, and then we see two men in an office building looking down at the madness below. These are the kind of details one must love about Ozu. It is all represented there on the screen, and without many words we know what is going on. As the film continues we see the workers on their breaks and finally arranging a weekend trip. On this trip is where the real story begins. A young married man named Shoji is attracted to a young girl nicknamed "Goldfish". They are unable to hide their attraction, as their colleagues start spreading rumors and noticing the smiles between the two. Eventually they give into their temptation. It's the effects after this betrayal that are the key focus. The young girl is surprised that she develops emotions, while Shoji is instantly ashamed of himself. His guilt soon grows, and he avoids his wife. Because of this his wife begins to suspect he is cheating on her. The film shows how destructive guilt can be. As Shoji tries to keep his mind off the affair, he ends up forgetting the anniversary of his son's death. The film is too long for its material. There simply isn't enough going on in the middle, and too much at the beginning and end. What it does offer is Ozu's look at relationships without the arrangement of a marriage. Instead, this shows the hard work and commitment a marriage takes. A theme that was handled a lot more competently and economically in his next feature.

I have seen quite a few of Yasujiro Ozu's films and while I enjoyed this film, it is not among his best--mostly because of its sluggish pacing. If the film had about 20 minutes cut from it, I really think it would have worked better. Now I am not against long films--provided they merit the additional time. This is one of the few Ozu films I had to force myself to finish, as I found it hard to concentrate on what was occurring--a first for one of his films.

The film is set in a Japanese company where there are lots of lower to mid-level drones doing their jobs. The theme, at times, is that no matter how hard you work and devote yourself to your job, you will one day die...and most likely not appreciated or sufficiently recompensed for your hard work. A depressing view, to be sure, as the film was apparently trying to make a point about alienation during the industrial age (a common theme in Ozu films).

In addition to this theme, there is another plot involving one of the workers having an affair with a co-worker. What actually made this pretty interesting and poignant is that the man's marriage was already in trouble, as their son had died several years ago (as a small child) and the couple became distant in the aftermath. Also interesting is the reaction of the man's co-workers when they think they've discovered the affair (though they still aren't sure). The men all seem to condemn them very quickly and say this is disruptive to the company. BUT, they also later sound incredibly envious of the couple! Additionally, instead of confronting both of them, they only invite in the woman---an interesting double standard.

Overall, the film is typical in style to what you'd expect from an Ozu film. The camera remains stationary and slightly lower than the actors and there are no lens movements. Instead, scenes change by cuts, not by a roving camera. Also, the film's subjects are the countless lower-level white collar workers. Atypical is the film's slow pace (slow even for Ozu) as well as the subject matter--adultery is not something he talked about often.

So is it worth seeing? Well, anything by Ozu is worth seeing as far as I am concerned. Just don't expect quite the same magic and poignant moments like you'd find in such classics as FLOATING WEEDS or LATE SPRING.

Had seen a few of Yasujiro Ozu's films some time ago, and was blown away by them, but never got around to seeing his whole filmography. With a lot of time on my hands for obvious reasons, after being on a roll watching a number of foreign films recently it occurred to me by chance not long after a friend raved seeing 'Tokyo Story' that there was much more to see of his films. So decided to do so, and am still kicking myself as to how it took me so long to watch and review the ones not yet seen.

Of which 'Early Spring' was one of them on both counts. It is not one of his most critically acclaimed films, despite being positively reviewed it has never as can be recalled been on "the best of Ozu" lists, but (as cliched as this sounds) even when Ozu was not at his best he was still worth watching. Bad films of his were extremely rare in my view. 'Early Spring' is a long way from being one of his best, it is not on the same level as 'Tokyo Story' and 'An Autumn Afternoon' (am not trying to be unfair here). Yet it still manages to be a very good film indeed.

'Early Spring' is not perfect. Will agree with those that say that the film can be too slow. Ozu's pacing in his films does tend to be deliberate, but even for his deliberate pacing there were times where the pace here in 'Early Spring' was too on the sluggish side.

Not helped by that the story is very slight, Ozu's films don't have complex plots and are not known for them but there were times here where the plotting veers on non-existent.

This is going to sound to others that to me 'Early Spring' was a bad films. Have actually said already very clearly that it isn't. Ozu's direction is typically meticulous and always assured and sensitive, this was the sort of film that he excelled in and that can be seen here. Though other films do it even better. It looks good too, the settings are not elaborate as such and any outdoor scenes are used sparingly but the clever and beautifully framed photography is striking. As is the gentle in mood score that goes for the emotional core without over-emphasising.

It is beautifully written as a film, lucid, sincere and always rings true. The story is slight and could have done with a quieter touch and a tighter pace, but it has a humanity and compelling realism to it and it was very interesting to see Ozu tackling a theme he didn't usually have in his films. There are characters in other Ozu films that are easier to get behind and more richly developed, but they are still interesting and don't ring false. They are compellingly acted too, especially from Ozu regular Chishu Ryu bringing his usual dignity.

Overall, very good. 8/10