Editing Early Summer

{{Short description|1951 Japanese film by Yasujirō Ozu}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Early Summer
| image          = Early Summer Poster.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Yasujirō Ozu]]
| screenplay     = {{Plainlist|
* [[Kogo Noda]]
* Yasujirō Ozu
}}
| producer       = Takeshi Yamamoto
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Setsuko Hara]]
* [[Shūji Sano]]
* [[Chikage Awashima]]
* [[Chishū Ryū]]
* [[Kuniko Miyake]]
* [[Haruko Sugimura]]
* Kuniko Igawa
* Hiroshi Nihon'yanagi 
}}
| cinematography = Yūharu Atsuta
| editing        = Yoshiyasu Hamamura
| music          = Senji Itō
| distributor    = [[Shochiku]]
| released       = {{Film date|df=y|1951|10|3}}
| runtime        = 125 minutes
| country        = Japan
| language       = Japanese
| budget         =
}}

{{nihongo|'''''Early Summer'''''|麥秋|Bakushū|lit. "[[Barley]] Harvest Time"}} is a 1951 Japanese drama by [[Yasujirō Ozu]]. Like most of Ozu's post-war films, ''Early Summer'' deals with issues ranging from communication problems between generations to the rising role of women in post-war [[Japan]]. The plot concerns Noriko, who lives contentedly in an extended family household that includes her parents and her brother's family, but an uncle's visit prompts the family to find her a husband.

==Plot==

Noriko, a secretary in [[Tokyo]], lives in [[Kamakura, Kanagawa]] with her extended Mamiya family, which includes her parents Shūkichi and Shige, her older brother Kōichi, a physician, his wife Fumiko, and their two young sons Minoru and Isamu.

An elderly uncle arrives and reminds everyone that Noriko, who is 28, should marry. At work, Noriko's boss Satake recommends a match for her with a forty-year-old friend of his, Mr. Manabe, a businessman and golfer. Noriko's friends are divided into two groups—the married and the unmarried—who tease one another endlessly, with Aya Tamura being her close ally in the unmarried group. Noriko's family gently pressures Noriko into accepting the match proposed by Satake, agreeing that it is time for her to marry and believing that the match proposed is a good one for someone her age.

Childhood friend Kenkichi Yabe, a doctor, widower, and father to a young daughter, arranges to have tea with Noriko and gives her a sheaf of wheat. The sheaf is a gift from a brother who was killed during [[World War II]] and who had asked Yabe to deliver it to Noriko in case he did not return. Later, Yabe is posted to [[Akita Prefecture|Akita]], in northern [[Honshu]]. Akita is considered so rural that Noriko and Aya make fun of the area's accent. However, when Yabe's mother Tami impulsively asks Noriko to marry Yabe and follow them in their northward resettlement, Noriko agrees. When Noriko reveals her decision, her family is quietly devastated. They hint to her that the match is a poor one. When Noriko persists, the family is forced to live with their disappointment.

The family gradually accepts Noriko's choice with quiet resignation, and before she moves on, the family takes a photograph together. Noriko's parents console themselves that Noriko and Kenkichi will move back to Tokyo in a few years' time, reuniting the family. Meanwhile, the parents move to a rural region to stay with Noriko's elderly uncle. In the final scene, Noriko's parents watch a bride pass down the country road in her traditional costume. The final shot is of a barley field ripening around.

== Cast ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Actor
!Role
|-
|[[Setsuko Hara]]
|Noriko
|-
|[[Chishū Ryū]]
|Kōichi
|-
|[[Chikage Awashima]]
|Aya Tamura
|-
|[[Kuniko Miyake]]
|Fumiko
|-
|[[Ichirō Sugai]]
|Shūkichi
|-
|[[Chieko Higashiyama]]
|Shige Mamiya
|-
|[[Haruko Sugimura]]
|Tami Yabe
|-
|[[Seiji Miyaguchi]]
|Nishiwaki
|-
|[[Shūji Sano]]
|Sotaro Satake
|-
|Hiroshi Nihon'yanagi
|Kenkichi Yabe
|}

==Reception==
''Early Summer'' is highly regarded by today's critics. [[Rotten Tomatoes]] reports [[List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes|100% approval]] among 11 critics, with an average rating of 8.90/10.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/early_summer/ |title=Early Summer (1951) |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=March 13, 2016}}</ref>In 2009, the film was ranked at No. 106 on the list of the ''Greatest Japanese Films of All Time'' by Japanese film magazine ''[[Kinema Junpo]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mubi.com/topics/greatest-japanese-films-by-magazine-kinema-junpo-2009-version|title=Greatest Japanese films by magazine Kinema Junpo (2009 version)|access-date=2011-12-26|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120711021342/http://mubi.com/topics/greatest-japanese-films-by-magazine-kinema-junpo-2009-version|archive-date=July 11, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Leonard Maltin]] gave it three of four stars: "A sensitively rendered film about basic human emotions, made by a master filmmaker."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Maltin |first1=Leonard |title=Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide |date=2015 |publisher=Plume Book |isbn=978-0-14-751682-4 |edition=3rd}}</ref>

==Home media==
[[Image:Early Summer Criterion.jpg|thumb|Criterion Collection DVD cover]]
In 2004, [[The Criterion Collection]] released a new, higher-definition digital transfer, with restored image and sound and new English subtitle translation. Also included were the original theatrical trailer, an audio commentary by [[Donald Richie]], ''Ozu’s Films from Behind-the-Scenes'', a conversation about Ozu and his working methods between child actor and sound technician Kojirō Suematsu, assistant cameraman Takashi Kawamata, and Ozu producer [[Shizuo Yamanouchi]], and essays by [[David Bordwell]] and [[Jim Jarmusch]].

In 2010, the BFI released a Region 2 Dual Format Edition (Blu-ray + DVD), this time in proper [[High-definition video|high definition]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://filmstore.bfi.org.uk/acatalog/info_16867.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100727184536/http://filmstore.bfi.org.uk/acatalog/info_16867.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 27, 2010|title=DVD & Blu-ray|work=bfi.org.uk|access-date=20 April 2016}}</ref> Included with this release is a [[Standard-definition television|standard-definition]] presentation of ''[[What Did the Lady Forget?]].''

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* ''Classic Japanese Screenplays: Ozu Yasujirō's Early Summer'' translated by D.A. Rajakaruna. Simasahita Sankha Mudrana Silpiyo; (1997), {{ISBN|955-95300-0-3}}
* ''Ozu Yasujirō's Two Post-War Films: Late Spring, Early Summer'' translated by D.A. Rajakaruna. Godage International Publishers, (2006)

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
* {{IMDb title|0043313}}
* [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/early-summer-am50783 ''Early Summer'' at AllMovie]
* {{tcmdb title|id=513745}}
* [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/early_summer/ Reviews] at [[Rotten Tomatoes]].
* ''[http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1951/ca001640.htm Early Summer]'' {{in lang|ja}} at the [[Japanese Movie Database]]
* [http://artsandfaith.com/t100/earlysummer.html Voted #94 on The Arts and Faith Top 100 Films (2010)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421025528/http://artsandfaith.com/t100/earlysummer.html |date=2010-04-21 }}
* [http://www.a2pcinema.com/ozu-san/films/earlysummer.htm ''Early Summer'' at Ozu-san.com]
* [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/675-early-summer ''Early Summer''] an essay by [[David Bordwell]] at the [[Criterion Collection]]

{{Yasujirō Ozu|state=autocollapse}}
{{Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film}}

[[Category:Films set in Kamakura]]
[[Category:1951 films]]
[[Category:1951 drama films]]
[[Category:Japanese drama films]]
[[Category:1950s Japanese-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Yasujirō Ozu]]
[[Category:Shochiku films]]
[[Category:Best Film Kinema Junpo Award winners]]
[[Category:Japanese black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Yasujirō Ozu]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Kogo Noda]]
[[Category:1950s Japanese films]]
[[Category:Japanese-language drama films]]