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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Akibiyori" or "Late Autumn")

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/direct-chair/ozu.htm
Japan 1960

When nostalgia about college days inspires a group of middle-aged men businessmen to match-make for a widow, played by Setsuko Hara (Tokyo Story), and her daughter they have no idea of the strife their careless interference will cause. Late Autumn's examination of familial upheaval moves effortlessly from comedy to pathos and is amongst Ozu's finest post-war films.

Included here is Ozu's moving silent drama A Mother Should be Loved (1934). Young Sadao struggles to come to terms with the discovery that he is not the son of his father s widow. His fragile acceptance of this is soon disrupted.

***

The lightest variant on Ozu's favourite theme. Instead of a father/daughter relationship, it focuses on a widow and the daughter who finds finds even the thought of her mother's remarriage offensive. There are new touches here: the comic chorus of old rogues trying to sort out both women's future and Mariko Okada as the 'modern miss' who cuts through tradition to ensure a happy ending. She's proof that not all Ozu's characters are meek and passive.

Quote by Alan Stanbrook - found at http://www.ozuyasujiro.com/

Theatrical Release: November 1960

Reviews                                                                        More Reviews                                                         DVD Reviews

 

Comparison:

Panorama -  Region 3 - NTSC vs. BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

BIG thanks to Nick Wrigley !

Panorama -  Region 3 - NTSC LEFT vs. BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray RIGHT

DVD Box Cover

   

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

Distribution Panorama -  Region 3 - NTSC

BFI

Region 'B' - Blu-ray

Runtime 2:08:22   2:08:34.748
Video 1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 5.12 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

1.33:1 - 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 24,713,212,281 bytes

Feature: 24,607,936,512 bytes

Video Bitrate: 21.99 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

Audio Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)  LPCM Audio Japanese 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles English, Traditional Chinese, None English, None
Features

Release Information:
Studio: Panorama (Hong Kong)

Aspect Ratio:
Original aspect Ratio 1.33:1

Edition Details:
Text screens - bios etc. (see below)

DVD Release Date: October 24th, 2003
Keep Case
Chapters: 12

Release Information:
Studio: BFI

 

1.33:1 - 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 24,713,212,281 bytes

Feature: 24,607,936,512 bytes

Video Bitrate: 21.99 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:
• 20-page illustrated booklet featuring essays and film notes by Alexander Jacoby and Ed Hughes

• Contains DVD with An Autumn Afternoon and A Mother Should be Loved

 

Blu-ray Release Date: May 23rd, 2011
Custom Blu-ray Case

Chapters 12

 

 

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were obtained directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: BFI Dual-format package - May 2011: The BFI has been doing a solid job on their Ozu Blu-ray transfers - see Late Spring + The Only Son, Tokyo Story, Early Summer, Good Morning and There Was a Father and coming out now we have An Autumn Afternoon and Late Autumn. This feature transfer fills most of the single-layered Blu-ray and although, presumably, from the same source as the Panorama - it improves in all the usual areas on hi-def over SD. In short the DVD looks like video compared to the 1080P which more closely resembles film.

BFI have again gone with the linear PCM audio track in stereo and there were no strong complaints of hiss or drop-out. It is clean and reasonably tight. Translation via the optional English subtitles is a notable improvement as the Panorama was ineffectual on that front (see Nick's comments below). The Blu-ray disc is region 'B'-locked.

There are no extras on the Blu-ray disc itself but the package includes a DVD of Late Autumn and Ozu's A Mother Should Be Loved is also available in SD. BFI have included another handsome, illustrated, booklet (20-pages) featuring essays and film notes by Alexander Jacoby and Ed Hughes.

The Panorama DVDs from almost a decade ago may have been a usable stop-gap at the time but viewing Ozu in hi-def is like seeing the film for the very first time. Film fans shouldn't hesitate owning Late Autumn (another Ozu masterpiece) via BFI's Blu-ray  package.

Gary W. Tooze 

***

NOTE: ADDITION: We have been scrutinizing the DVD and the sub titles are quite weak. It appears they were much better done on the old VHS tape.

"LATE AUTUMN is the first Ozu DVD of the centenary year with English subtitles (beating Criterion's TOKYO STORY by four days!). This is licensed directly from Shochiku and utilizes their superb new prints. There's hardly one instance of print damage, and the film has probably never looked as good since its Japanese theatrical debut in 1961. Like the recent Shochiku Japanese DVDs (released in September 2003, with no English subtitles) this Panorama DVD is also "tape-sourced" (ie. unlike most Criterion discs (for example) there is combing in forced weave mode of my computer DVD player). This may be an issue for some people and should be noted (all Panorama's discs are like this.)"

Nick Wrigley of Masters of Cinema


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

Shohei Imamura (Cinematheque Ontario Monographs, No. 1)
by James Quandt
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"


Menus

Panorama -  Region 3 - NTSC LEFT vs. BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray RIGHT

 


CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

Subtitle sample

 

Panorama -  Region 3 - NTSC TOP vs. BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


 

Screen Captures

 

Panorama -  Region 3 - NTSC TOP vs. BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


Panorama -  Region 3 - NTSC TOP vs. BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

Panorama -  Region 3 - NTSC TOP vs. BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


Panorama -  Region 3 - NTSC TOP vs. BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

Panorama -  Region 3 - NTSC TOP vs. BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


Panorama -  Region 3 - NTSC TOP vs. BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


Panorama -  Region 3 - NTSC TOP vs. BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
 


Panorama -  Region 3 - NTSC TOP vs. BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


Panorama -  Region 3 - NTSC TOP vs. BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


Panorama -  Region 3 - NTSC TOP vs. BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

DVD Box Cover

   

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

Distribution Panorama -  Region 3 - NTSC

BFI

Region 'B' - Blu-ray

 





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