CINEMA CYCLE
(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)
DATE VIEWED: 09/17/2015
TITLE: Late Autumn
FORMAT: Streaming (Hulu+)
TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 2 hours 3 minutes
DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 26 miles
TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 2717.8 miles
SYNOPSIS: A group of elder Japanese gentlemen try and find a suitable husband for a widow’s daughter of a deceased friend.
CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: The good intentions of well meaning people and the clash of cultures between the old and the new generations.
PROS AND CONS: One of the reasons that I find cinema from other countries so fascinating is the window that it provides into other cultures and other societies behaviors. In this particular case, that society is post-war Japan in the late 1950s.
The film deals with the mis-steps and roundabout story line concerning the marriage of a young girl and the effect that it has on the girl's widowed mother and their relationship.
While the film was slow and pondering during the first hour, you become wrapped up in the lives of the characters to the point that the film becomes quite engaging by the time it is over.
That said, the imagery and acting in the film almost appear surrealistic from the western point of view. The relations between characters is extremely formal, with no emotional outbursts of any kind. The concept of marrying for love is not even mentioned. Marriage is a duty that needs to be done for the honor of the family. The rigid social structure of pre-war Japan is still in full bloom here and the characters appear to be extremely restrained.
Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film.
This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle. A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.
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