There was a lot of subtly thrown throughout the acclaimed foreign film Late Spring, helmed by Japanese filmmaker Yasujirō Ozu. The 1949 drama, based on the short novel Father and Daughter followed a simple premise that was told in a slow and delicate fashion. Coming from a nonforeign film aficionado, I was riveted by the filmmaking choices that Ozu threw throughout Late Spring and while the subjects were not the most intriguing - the filmmaking was what kept me hooked from start to finish. If someone were to watch this film and not find any of the images on screen similar to a painting, I would be shocked immensely. The cinematography is, without question, the best aspect of Late Spring and the collaboration between Ozu and cinematographer Yuharu Atsuta is something that, I’m surprised, has not gone down as one of the more memorable team-ups in the history of film. Granted, this film is close to 70 years old, but that is beside the point, as people like to bring up the techniques that went into Casablanca and Gone with the Wind, which are both older than Late Spring.
Something that everyone can agree with when it comes to Late Spring’s cinematography is the rare use of camera movement. There is very little of it in this film and that is not a style that is utilized in many films to begin with. The indoor scenes, in particular, left me thinking about how they decided to handle the shots. The camera would be low on the ground, even when characters would be walking into the room, and there would only be one angle used for the entirety of a sequence. A lot of master shots were in Late Spring and Ozu does not shy away from that style whatsoever. The dinner scene does stand out, as the first minute of it is a wide shot of the dining room that the two central characters are sitting in. Other than that, there are four other shots incorporated into that sequence and all happen to not contain any movement. Going from an establishing shot to close-ups and medium close-ups are really incredible and awe-inspiring if you ask me.
Atsuta also made a bold choice by shooting through doorways a lot, not just specifically with the dinner scene - but with a majority of the sequences that took place indoors, it was handled in an intriguing matter. You were able to witness a lot of usage of the “frame within a frame” composition. There were a lot of shots that were shot through doors and windows, and of course, in still camera fashion. Sometimes, when a character (or a train) is moving, Ozu will use a dolly shot (for example in the bicycle ride in Late Spring), but he would move the camera at the same speed as the characters so as to minimize the appearance of motion. It was easy to notice the use of 50mm lens, which caused the heavy usage of wide angles in Late Spring and he also happened to disregard the 180-degree rule when it came to shooting sequences of dialogue between two characters.
It is always fun to point when a filmmaker breaks the 180-degree rule in a film, or a television show, but it was odd when seeing someone acclaimed like Ozu push it to the side like it were irrelevant. It is understandable that he was going for something unique, but it is certainly something that cannot be ignored when talking about the breathtaking work handled on Late Spring. The idea of shooting a majority of a film with little camera movement is something I have never seen prior to watching Late Spring and it is an incredible achievement that many people should not overlook, despite it being a little off-putting to some audiences.
