The End of Summer

Ozu's penultimate film and the only one he made away from Shochiku; it was produced by Toho and Takarazuka Eiga. The Kohayagawa family run a sake brewery in Kyoto. The business has shrunk, a merger is being discussed, marriages are being arranged for two of the daughters. But the old father, Manbei, is not interested; he has begun visiting his former mistress again, and both the family's shame and its anxiety come from there. Setsuko Hara plays the widowed daughter-in-law who refuses to remarry; it was her last film with Ozu. The ending is unusually merciless for him. Two farmers washing vegetables by the river remark on how many crows there are, and one says someone must have died; one of the farmers is Chishu Ryu, who appeared in nearly every film Ozu made. Smoke rises from the crematorium on the far bank, and the film closes on crows perched on gravestones. Who it is for: viewers who like late Ozu and his use of colour. Who it is not for: anyone expecting a warm family film. The humour built on death is cold, there are a great many characters, and some of the side stories are left unfinished.