An autumn afternoon
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | An autumn afternoon |
| Original title | 秋刀魚 の 味 , Samma no aji |
| Country of production | Japan |
| original language | Japanese |
| Publishing year | 1962 |
| length | 113 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Yasujirō Ozu |
| script |
Kōgo Noda , Yasujirō Ozu |
| production | Shizuo Yamauchi |
| music | Kojun Saitō |
| camera | Yūharu Atsuta |
| cut | Yoshiyasu Hamamura |
| occupation | |
| |
An Autumn Afternoon ( Japanese 秋刀魚 の 味 , Samma no aji ) is a Japanese film from 1962 . It is the last film from director Yasujirō Ozu . The main roles were played by Ryū Chishū and Iwashita Shima .
action
Magnificent, smoking chimneys at the beginning show the economic boom in Japan, later the rare views of the city's new buildings show how ugly it actually is. Hirayama, a department head in a company, meets regularly with his classmates. When one of them happened to meet the old teacher Sakuma, nicknamed “Pumpkin”, it was decided to invite him. He enjoys the evening and is happy to see his students again after forty years. He eats and drinks a little too much, so the hosts drive him home. In doing so, they discover that the old man is making his way through life with a noodle snack, taken care of by his daughter, who is now older.
The old boys collect money that Hirayama brings. A young guest at the noodle diner, beaming with joy, recognizes him as his former superior during the war and asks him to come along to his local pub. There the young man puts on marching music, which leads to one of the most famous Ozu scenes when the young man marches through the bar and the somewhat embarrassed Hirayama and the bar manager behind the counter (who reminds Hirayama of his deceased wife) the greeting to reply. When the young man said: "If we had won the war, we would now be in New York!", Hirayama replies indulgently: "It's good that we didn't win it."
After meeting the old teacher and his daughter, Hirayama realizes that he has to part with his daughter. After a detour - a chance was already missed - a suitable groom is finally found and the wedding takes place. When the party (which is not shown) is over, Hirayama sits with his old friends, then goes to the bar alone with the madam who reminds him of his wife for a drink and listens to the marching music again. Dressed in dark he is asked if he has come from a funeral. Yes, he replies, you could say that and you can pour whiskey straight. His son and daughter-in-law are waiting at home when he finally appears, not quite sober. They promise to visit him occasionally. The younger son, who still lives at home, admonishes the father, who hums the march, to go to bed. He looks sadly at the staircase that leads to his daughter's now empty room. The film ends with the father's melancholy mood, sitting pensively on the chair.
background
Most of the scenes are Ozu-typical, like on a stage with a fixed camera position. Every now and then there is a glimpse into the environment, accompanied by emphatically happy music. Sometimes it is quiet except for the ringing of the railway barriers, which close for the suburban trains. The modest economic situation of the time is documented, but the real issue is the small and large personal opportunities that are overlooked and missed - and getting old. Smoking chimneys, the old man alone at the end - Ozu takes up a lot of Die Reise nach Tokyo .
The film is, as always with Ozu, very well cast except for the supporting roles. There is Higashino, who plays the old teacher, but who can also appear princely as Mito Kōmon , d. H. Tokugawa Mitsukuni in a television series, as well as Sada as Hirayama's elder or Kishida, here as the head of the bar.
Web links
- An autumn afternoon in theInternet Movie Database(English)
- An autumn afternoon at rotten tomatoes (English)
Remarks
- ↑ Actually The Taste of Samma . This is the Japanese name of Pacific jackfish , which is typical of autumn. In the film, when the old teacher asks while eating what a tasty bite it is, "Hamo" is answered. "Ham?" he asks back, "no, Hamo". "Aha, that's how you write it," he says, and paints the complicated symbol 鱧 ( Muraenesox cinereus ) for this fish with his finger in the air. - In this scene Ozu does not refer to the tasty Samma of the film title, the film does not even take place in autumn. The title is really just a metaphor for the autumn of life, which is only inadequately reproduced with an autumn afternoon .