Early Spring

1956, Yasujirō Ozu, 144mins

In his first film after the commercial and critical success of Tokyo Story, Ozu examines life in postwar Japan through the eyes of a young salaryman, dissatisfied with career and marriage, who begins an affair with a flirtatious co-worker. A quiet disgust with daily life is rapidly established as the young clerical worker lights a bleak pre-breakfast cigarette before facing the commuters’ train.