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Early Summer 1951

Early Summer

Noriko’s family wants to find her a husband. Ozu follows the wider household and its neighbours as her own wishes unsettle what everyone assumes a marriage should accomplish.

Catalogue reference: 125 min (Criterion Collection spine 240 catalogue presentation).

Listed catalogue duration, not a measured runtime. Exact cut and matching disc or stream have not been established.

1951 · Directed by Yasujiro Ozu

What to expect

A marriage decision becomes a way to see an entire social network change. The ensemble gives competing expectations room to feel reasonable, funny and painful at once.

How to ease in

Let the opening household routines establish who belongs to whom. Small conversations matter before the marriage question gathers force.

For viewers drawn to domestic ensembles and everyday social pressure.

Less suitable when you want an immediately urgent plot.

Heads-up

The pace is unhurried and the cast extensive. It rewards attention to family negotiations more than a search for dramatic confrontations.

Sources for the facts

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