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An Autumn Afternoon

Sanma no aji

1962

Yasujirō Ozu

Chishu Ryu, Shima Iwashita, Shinichiro Mikami, Keiji Sada ...

7.8

3,162

Drama Shuhei Hirayama is a widower with a 24-year old daughter. He gradually comes to realize that she should not be obliged to look after him for the rest of his life, and so he arranges a marriage for her.

	Media	Author	Review
		Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"[Ozu] is a man with a profound understanding of human nature, about which he makes no dramatic statements (...) There is meticulous attention to the things within the shot (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"
		Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"[A] superbly composed family drama (...) Exquisitely tender and sad (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"
		The New York Times	"Although Ozu's films are realistic (...) they evoke emotions not only through identification but also through methods more commonly associated with music and other nonrepresentational forms of art"
		David Mermelstein Variety	"Modern viewers uninterested in the vicissitudes of family life essential to Ozu will still likely be captivated"
		Geoffrey Macnab The Independent	"Very moving (...) 'An Autumn Afternoon' may seem like quintessentially Japanese subject matter but (...) its themes turn out to be utterly universal."
		Richard Brody The New Yorker	"With an intense tenderness for his characters and an exquisite sensitivity to their slightest emotional tremors, Ozu (...) is one of the most humane of filmmakers."
		Eric Henderson Slant	"A narrative recapitulation of perhaps his greatest film, 'Late Spring' (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"
		Mike D'Angelo AV Club	"The series of low-key conversations and negotiations acquires a cumulative force that packs an unexpected wallop by the end."
		Time Out	"A movingly valedictory affair, its familiar story (...) carrying even more poignancy than usual as a poised and wise reminder of passing time and the inevitable approach of mortality."
		Dave Kehr Chicago Reader	"Stylistically it's one of Ozu's purest, most elemental works (...) Appreciating Ozu is a matter of temperament"

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