Late Autumn - BFI (PG )

Ayako (Yoko Tsukasa) is twenty-four and still unmarried, not that she shows any great interest in getting hitched in a hurry. Unfortunately for Ayako, three old friends of her late father take it upon themselves to find her a husband, whether she wants their help or not. 

Released in Japan in 1960, Late Autumn was one of Yasujiro Ozu’s last films. He made just two more movies before his death in 1963 but with his quiet, reflective style if Ozu was slowing down with age it is impossible to tell from his work. If anything, Ozu’s films became more playful as he aged, with the comedy Ohayo in 1959 about two boys refusing to speak to their parents until they get a TV set and then the meddling old men making a mess of their matchmaking in Late Autumn.

The cast all inhabit their characters with an unself-conscious naturalism that looks deceptively simple. Yoko Tsukasa brings a stubborn streak to the headstrong heroine, while Setsuko Hara is terrific as her mother Akiko, whom all the guys had a crush on when they were in college. The three bored businessmen out to find Ayako a match are Hirayama (Shinichiro Mikami), Mamiya (Shin Saburi) and Taguchi (Nobuo Nakamura). Each has his own approach to the task at hand – Taguchi is circumspect and more talk than action, Mamiya can never stop talking and is not afraid to stick his nose in everyone’s business, while the widower Hirayama has designs on Akiko.