Yasujiro Ozu's Late Spring Ban Shun DVD Review Yasujiro Ozu Late Spring Ban Shun DVD Review Yasujiro Ozu Late Spring Ban Shun DVD Review Yasujiro Ozu Late Spring Ban Shun DVD Review Yasujiro Ozu Late Spring Ban Shun DVD Revi

(aka "Late Spring" or "Ban Shun" )

Japan 1949

One of the most powerful of Yasujiro Ozu’s family portraits, Late Spring tells the story of a widowed father who feels compelled to marry off his only, beloved daughter. Loyal Ozu players Chishu Ryu and Setsuko Hara command this poignant tale of love and loss in postwar Japan, which remains as potent today as ever—almost by itself justifying Ozu’s inclusion in the pantheon of cinema’s greatest directors.

***

Noriko (Setsuko Hara) is utterly devoted to her widowed father Somiya (Chishu Ryu, like Hara she is quickly recognized as another Ozu regular). While attending a "Noh" theatrical play with him she focuses on a lady she believes that he intends to wed. He isn't in actuality but he has only told Noriko this to encourage her to get married herself and leave the nest. Father feels it is time and doesn't want to burden his daughter's future happiness. Noriko is obviously disturbed by this potential union with a combination of jealousy and anger flashing subtly across her face. Her pain is transferred to us in such a cohesive fashion that the sense of being a voyeur in these peoples lives is almost embarrassing for the viewer.

No director even comes close to expressing the essence of "mono no aware" like Yasujiro Ozu (that we experience the wholeness of life by encountering things (mono) and being sensitive to them (no aware). Feeling without verbalization is a conduit of art cinema since the silent era. Somiya's quiet 'hmms' to his daughter in regards to her direct questions about his plans to re-marry are as memorable as any emotion I have seen in film. I will never forget that scene, nor many others, in "Late Spring". Another is how perfectly beautiful and fetching Setsuko Hara looks after a bike ride with a potential suitor. They sit together and watch the ocean, the wind blows in her hair and she smiles at him - more with amusement at his pursuit of her than encouragement. She is far too content to worry about men in her life and this is also expressed in a few smiles. Noriko is so reluctant to adjust her simple and beautiful manner of living and challenging it becomes agonizing and later her mannerisms display how distraught she is.

For me "Late Spring" eclipses "Tokyo Story" as my favorite Ozu film. His continued style of the 180 degree cuts when there is conversation is so elegant, restrained and respectful. The emotion his films bring underplay the directors constant future theme of bridging of familial conflict, communication and unselfish love. One of the greatest films I have ever seen.

Gary Tooze

Poster

Theatrical Release: September 13th, 1949

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

DVD Comparison:

Criterion (2-disc) - Region 1- NTSC vs. Bo Ying - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Tartan (Ozu Volume 1: The Noriko Trilogy) - Region 0 - PAL vs. Panorama - Region 0 - NTSC

Big thanks to Henrik Sylow and Gary Tooze for the Screen Caps!

(Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Bo Ying - Region 0 - NTSC - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers

Distribution

Criterion Collection - Spine # 331

Region 1 - NTSC

Bo Ying

Region 0 - NTSC

(Tartan (Ozu Volume 1: The Noriko Trilogy) - Region 0 - PAL - LEFT vs. Panorama - Region 0 - NTSC - RIGHT)

Thinking of buying from YesAsia? CLICK HERE and use THIS UPDATED BEAVER PAGE to source their very best...

Tartan

Region 0 - PAL

Panorama
Region 0 - NTSC

	Criterion	Bo Ying	Tartan	Panorama
Runtime	1:48:04	1:47:44	1:48:12	1:47:44
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 8.4 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.19 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 8.27 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.16 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Criterion
Bitrate: Bo Ying
Bitrate: Tartan (Ozu Volume 1: The Noriko Trilogy)
Bitrate: Panorama
Audio	1.0 Dolby Digital Japanese	2.0 Dolby Digital Japanese	2.0 Dolby Digital Japanese	2.0 Dolby Digital Japanese
Subtitles	English, None	English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, None	English, None	English, Traditional Chinese, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Criterion Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Commentary by Richard Pena • Tokyo-Ga (1985, 92 mins), legendary director Wim Wenders’ tribute to Yasujiro Ozu • Audio commentary by Richard Peña, program director of New York’s Film Society of Lincoln Center • Liner Notes essays by critic Michael Atkinson and renowned Japanese-film historian Donald Richie DVD Release Date: May 9th, 2006 Double Thick Keepcase Chapters 25	Release Information: Studio: Bo Ying (China) Aspect Ratio: Original aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • none DVD Release Date: 2005 Keep Case Chapters: 12	Release Information: Studio: Tartan Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Photo Gallery DVD Release Date: December 6, 2004 Triple Digipack Chapters 16	Release Information: Studio: Panorama Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Text screens - bio of Ozu DVD Release Date: November 14th, 2003 Keep Case Chapters 12

Comments

ADDITION: May 2006 - Criterion 2-disc:

To be fair to the Criterion, I have reviewed it separately with more screen captures HERE.

As with the Forbidden Games, The Virgin Spring, La bête humaine and other recent 1.33 aspect ratio releases by Criterion (as well as, from the past, Nanook of the North) the image has been 'pictureboxed' to overcome 'overscan' on commercially made tube television sets (overscan can be up to a 15% loss of image and this is significant!). Pictureboxing leaves a black border around the edge of the image and most players automatically zoom-in to fill the screen - it limits resolution making the image slightly less detailed than it might be able to achieve. The benefit of pictureboxing is that it adds more visible viewing area so that the majority of DVD purchasers (most people own and watch through tubes) can see even more of what is on the negative - the way the film was meant to be viewed. DVDBeaver feels that equipment invariably improves at a much lower price and much faster these days and catering to people with inferior equipment can easily come back and haunt you when the hardware climate advances (it is doing so monthly). I'll wager that tube TV's are selling at at much lower rate than other viewing systems these days. We feel you will own your DVDs (especially your Criterion DVDs) much longer than you will own your current viewing system - I say this is true for myself having just purchased a plasma TV today! (I will still own my Criterion DVDs long after this brand new television is in the trashcan). The overscan problem associated with tube TVs can be corrected relatively inexpensively (incremental zoom DVD players, HTPC viewing, even some TVs now can zoom out to compensate etc.). In the early days of DVD, Criterion justified issuing non-anamorphic DVD editions feeling that player down-conversion was poor. DVDBeaver also feel this was an error on their part although this new issue has many sides - it is still up for debate and we welcome opinions. I see that a petition has been created HERE to encourage Criterion to dismiss this practice.

Criterion have done some extensive cleaning of the dirt and debris prevalent on the existing available master but some vertical scratches are still noticeable, often appearing highly visible (see bicycling capture below). The Criterion is very bright and sharp with superior black levels than we have seen to date. I believe they have meticulously manipulated both contrast and blacks by hand in certain scenes. This raises the perceived sharpness of the image and it DOES look better. Our condemnation of this practice of altering original masters, is really a form of restoration. Deepening the black levels which may have faded over time and brightening spots that are clouded with dirt and debris is acceptable as long as it is not a blanket approach. In, example, the Panorama - the image was brightened, but not in segmented areas - but through the entire film - and this is not appropriate. The trouble with digital manipulation is that it can bring to the surface some usually hidden defects (like scratches and blemishes). If the film is relatively intact the digital improvement has a valued effect - much akin to detailed restoration. The Criterion, pictureboxed and with warts and all, is still the best this film has looked for a very long time and the best image of Ozu's masterpiece on DVD.

To be fair to the Criterion, I have reviewed it separately with more screen captures HERE.

The commentary is excellent from what I have heard so far. I will report in detail tomorrow.

The second disc is Win Wenders 90 minute Tokyo Ga. Wenders travels to Japan in search of the Tokyo seen in the films of Yasujiro Ozu. A fitting documentary for fans of Ozu and the film.

***

ADDITION: August - 2005 - No. The Bo Ying is not the edition that we were all seeking and hoping for. I honestly wasn't expecting that it would be but tempered with my love for the film I was forced to 'give it a try'. It is non-progressive and shows some minor combing like the Panorama edition. Going from memory, I think that the subtitles are a slight improvement over the Panorama, or possibly they are the same. Regardless, the font used seems to break-up with 'jaggies' and makes it hard to read at times (see sample below).

What I do think is correct about the Bo Ying is the brightness level. It appears to fall somewhere between the brightened Panorama and the darker Tartan (see last large capture as example). Another problem with the Bo Ying is fluctuating contrast - it's quite bad in the beginning, as are the scratches, but it does settle down somewhat as the film progresses.

The Bo Ying also has moments of great clarity where the contrast is spot-on and the image shows detail of depth and texture. It's quite strangely inconsistent, but is a positive indication of what the image can look like. I suggest that Criterion are dragging their heels a bit on this one, but I'm sure there is a reason.

BOTTOM LINE: - All three editions have flaws, but the lesser of all the evils is the Tartan with the unconverted NTSC->PAL transfer. Unlike the other two it is progressive and easily has the best subtitles in both appearance and translation. It also has the best extra feature although on this disc of the Boxset it is limited to a 'Photo Gallery'. Criterion will eventually win this horserace although they are starting late. Let's try to be patient.

- Gary Tooze

*****

This Tartan Ozu Boxset (also includes Early Summer and Tokyo Story) has some problems and I am especially greatly disappointed that they did not convert the NTSC masters they had to PAL- very lazy DVD production. Good contrast on this Late Spring edition and it is marginally sharper than the Panorama. It, of course, has far superior subtitles (The Panorama are fraught with spelling and grammar errors). There is some brightness boosting in the Panorama as well as a greenish/grey haze. The Tartans are just not satisfactory with the NTSC->PAL issue. Criterion should eclipse these easily with their eventual NTSC release.

- Gary Tooze

Once again a stunning image, completely spotless, but very soft and dark, lacking sharpness in details, especially in long shots. Based upon the restored Shochiku masters, it is a NTSC to PAL transfer, thus suffers from ghosting, even though it rarely is noted.

As note in the Tokyo Story comment, the final product notes on too many excuses. When one releases something as central in film history as the “Noriko Trilogy”, everyone eyes targets it, and people will be more critical than usual, because of the legacy of the films. As such, the production simply has too many excuses to be acceptable. Granted, we critics often take a production for granted, never realizing the problems involved, and they probably had a deadline for Christmas sales and some boss said no to postponing it, but there are too many hiccups production wise here, too many excuses, and regardless of a, what I personally think is, beautiful image and presentation, this is too flawed a product.

- Henrik Sylow

Recommended Reading for Japanese Film Fans (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)

The Japan Journals : 1947-2004,

by Donald Richie

The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film
by Tom Mes and Jasper Sharp

Kon Ichikawa (Cinematheque Ontario Monographs)

by James Quandt, Cinematheque Ontario

Eros Plus Massacre: An Introduction to the Japanese New Wave Cinema (Midland Book, Mb 469)
by David Desser

The Films of Akira Kurosawa by Donald Ritchie

Tokyo Story

by Yasujiro Ozu, Kogo Noda, Donald Richie, Eric Klestadt

Ozu by Donald Richie

A Hundred Years of Japanese Film by Donald Richie

Check out more in "The Library"

DVD Menus

(Criterion - region 1- NTSC LEFT vs. Bo Ying - Region 0 - NTSC RIGHT)

Criterion - Region 1- NTSC- Disc 2

(Tartan (Ozu Volume 1: The Noriko Trilogy) - Region 0 - PAL - LEFT vs. Panorama - Region 0 - NTSC - RIGHT)

Screen Captures