Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

David Conrad Ozu made the same movie again and again, so it is perhaps no surprise that his final one is arguably the best of all. In "Sanma no Aji," Ozu balances all of the usual themes of his films—generation gaps, the different aspirations of men and women in Japanese society, changing attitudes toward consumerism, and the absent presence of the Pacific war in Japan's collective memory—with his exceptional finesse and customary sensitivity. In this outing the discussions of the war are more overt than usual, though they extend no further than the drunken reminiscences of old men in a restaurant. These few, understated scenes are crucial: the war was the great break after which virtually nothing in Japan would be the same, and the rift it creates between the collective memories of the young and the old is in many ways the proximate cause of the movie's more visible and contemporary rifts: the rifts of lifestyle in Japan's postwar economic environment. The film is best appreciated with some knowledge of its historical background, but casual fans of Japanese cinema should find much to enjoy as well. Daisuke Kato, recognizable from Kurosawa movies like "Seven Samurai," has a remarkable turn as Ryu's nostalgic drinking companion and former military subordinate.

Cosmoeticadotcom The success of this blend of the high and the low owes almost all to the marvelous screenplays Ozu scripted with his co-writer, Kogo Noda. The cinematography by Yuharu Atsuta is unobtrusive as ever, in the ozu style. And equally backgrounded are the musical interludes of Kojun Saito. The DVD is soon to be released by The Criterion Collection, and while it is comparatively light on extra features- vis-à-vis other Criterion releases, as well as others of Ozu by Criterion, there is a good deal of quality in the extras. There is the requisite theatrical trailer, and booklet essays by film critic Geoff Andrew and ubiquitous Japanese film scholar Donald Ritchie. I would have expected Ritchie to provide the audio film commentary track, but, instead, that task is assigned to another Japanese film scholar, David Bordwell. Bordwell has always been hit and miss as a film critic, and his few audio commentaries reflect that fact. But, this time he's pretty good, albeit not as natural as Ritchie- a veteran DVD commenter- is. Bordwell is solid, not too didactic, specific to scenes, but a little stiff. He never conveys that he's stuck to his script, but he never really loosens up and gives the percipient the sense that he really is into the total film experience, either. As stated, good, but not great. Perhaps the best point he makes- and it is one I echo, is that Ozu is not a director concerned with character motivations. He is, in essence, the Method Actor's nightmare. Instead, Ozu is a maven of Behaviorist Cinema. What his characters do is more important than what they think or voice. This is why we often get deliberate shots of his characters (In this and other films) from behind. Ozu wants the viewer to imagine what they are feeling, from the situation presented, not from how many tears they shed, nor how wide their smile. Finally, there are selections from Yasujiro Ozu And The Taste of Sake, a 1978 French television show looking examining Ozu's career, and featuring French film critics Michel Ciment and Georges Perec. On the negative side is the fact that Criterions bland, white subtitles are often lost on screen, in brighter scenes- a problem that is not as bad as in black and white films, but when will Criterion get a clue- colored subtitles, and ones with borders, are a must; especially sans an English language dubbed track. The film is shown in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio.An Autumn Afternoon is a great film, but it is not a great film that is garish in its depth and breadth. It does not tackle grand themes, nor does it blow the viewer away with magnificent vistas. Instead, it is a small, perfect gem of a film that distills the human essence into less than two hours of experience that moves one to laugh and inhale deeply. And if one does not think that such a feat as that is something, and something great, then one simply does not understand art.

jotix100 Yasuhiro Ozu brilliant film career ended with this elegiac look at a man, Shuhei Hirayama, who has seen his life pass him by without ever doing much about it. We meet the man, whose somewhat pleasant routine consists in preparing to go to a job that has given him a comfortable existence. At home, Hirayama is living with his unmarried daughter, Michiko, whose single status weighs heavily on him, after all, he is definitely grown old. Michiko's happiness is looked upon with his father's eyes, but at the same time, he will soon be by himself in an empty house with little, or no prospect for much. He realizes he cannot retain his daughter to keep the house forever.Among his friends, there is one dear old man, his old teacher, now reduced to working in his own noodle shop. When Hirayama and his friends meet for regular dinners they have a great time, as it is the custom of Japanese men to meet alone for entertaining. The old teacher is feted, but the man cannot hold his liquor. Hirayama takes the man home. There, he witnesses the old man's spinster daughter trying to cope with her father. It is at this point that Hirayama looks into the future and decides he must find a good prospect for Michiko.Ozu's themes of old versus new is at the center of the story. As the film begins we watch blue and red smoke stacks against blue skies, something that reminds us of modern paintings. Ozu's themes always revolved about family, tradition and the changing times, as in this film, his swansong to the cinema. The master evidently enjoyed working with Chichu Ryu, the lead actor in some of his best movies. Here, Mr. Ryu shows why the director liked him so much. The actor does a wonderful job as the man facing an uncertain future, but conscious enough of the happiness of the rest of his family.

David This was one of the first Ozu films I saw, and is one of my favorites. Ozu's themes - a family adjusts uneasily to the rapidly shifting traditions of life in middle-class, postwar Japan - are handled with great subtlety, and many dark ironies are to be found beneath the fragile quietude at this film's surface. This isn't just applicable to Japan, and this realization gives this film a sad sting that stuck with me long after the movie was over. Ozu's famous 'look' - no closeups, no crane shots, a still camera fixed at 3 1/2 feet off the floor or ground also gives this film an unforgettable grace and beauty. DVD please???