The fall of the Kohayagawa family

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Movie
German title The fall of the Kohayagawa family
Original title 小早川 家 の 秋 , Kohayagawa-ke no Aki
Country of production Japan
original language Japanese
Publishing year 1961
Rod
Director Yasujirō Ozu
script Kōgo Noda ,
Yasujirō Ozu
production Shizuo Yamauchi
music Toshirō Mayuzumi
camera Yūharu Atsuta
occupation

The Autumn of the Kohayagawa Family ( Japanese 小早川 家 の 秋 , Kohayagawa-ke no Aki ) is a Japanese film from 1961 by director Yasujirō Ozu .

action

Two nervous middle-aged men are sitting together in a bar: Isomura, the owner of a small steel factory and Kitagawa, the brother of the patriarch Mambei Kohayagawa, the owner of a sake brewery. Kitagawa tries to match his unsuspecting widowed niece Akiko with Isomura, who is looking for a wife. Akiko, whose husband was a university professor, who died six years ago, works in an art gallery. When Isomura says he is collecting pictures of oxen, Akiko leaves the meeting under a pretext and returns home, where her son is doing schoolwork.

The widowed Patriarch Mambei is still vigorous and sometimes disappears from home. The daughters Noriko, Fumiko and the daughter-in-law Akiko are alarmed. Fumiko's husband Hisao, who runs the business, sends an employee behind. Mambei notices this, places him and invites him to a snack bar and then gets rid of him. He is visiting his former mistress Sasaski, who has a pretty daughter - Yuriko - who could have been his. Yuriko in the petticoat of the times wants a stole, either from her young American friends who work in a company, or from her father .

The sake brewery is in bad shape, the competition from larger breweries is troubling. But as long as Mampei is there, joining another company is out of the question. Another problem is the younger daughter's marriage and the possible remarriage of Akiko. Noriko quotes the well-known saying "Many captains - ship on the mountain".

Mambei suffers a fit of weakness, is looked after and recovers. He then plays hide and seek with his grandson, but then sneaks out of the house to visit his old love again. They watch a bike race together and still want to go to Kyoto. But then he collapses and dies. The summoned Kobayagawa asked Ms. Sasaki what Mampei's last words said - “That's it? Is that really it? "

The last section of the film begins with the grieving relatives looking at a chimney, opposite the one from the crematorium. A farmer and his wife, who are washing vegetables by the river, also look over and notice the smoke rising. “That is the cycle of life,” says the woman.

While family members cross a narrow bridge, Akiko and Noriko stay behind on the dike. Akiko encourages her sister to follow her heart and visit her friends in Sapporo. She wants to be alone.

The film ends with a view of crows by the river. And while the music changes to the dark and dramatic, you can see crows sitting on gravestones.

background

The Ozu-typical fixed camera positions in this film emphasize the beauty of the old wooden buildings in Japan, both those of the residential houses and those of the production facilities. You can hear the dialect typical of the Kansai . As always, there are actors known from previous Ozu films. This time Ryū has to be content with a small role at the end of the film as a simple farmer.

Nakamura Ganjirō, son of a kabuki actor and himself a kabuki actor, is there once again, playing the fun-loving, mischievous old man excellently.

It is also noteworthy that Ozu was able to win Mayuzumi for the film music.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sentō ōkushite fune yama ni noboru ( 船頭 多 く し て 船山 に 登 る ).

Awards

  • Berlin International Film Festival 1962, nominated for the Golden Bear
  • Mainichi Film Concours. Best Supporting Actress: Michiyo Aratama

Web links

literature