Revisiting the storyline of his earlier Late Spring (1949), Ozu collaborates once more with his regular screenwriter Kogo Noda and casts the familiar face of Chishu Ryu in the role of Hirayama, an elderly widower worried about the unmarried daughter who keeps house for him. Counselled on all sides to marry her off before it is too late, Hirayama plays matchmaker and reluctantly prepares to bid his old life farewell. 

The themes throughout are familiar from much of the director’s greatest work: everyday life with all its ups and downs – at home, at work, in local bars, with family, with old friends. These are ordinary people whose stories may not have big melodramatic moments, but whose concerns – loneliness, ageing parents, family responsibility – resonate deeply with us all.   

While the film’s original Japanese title (which translates as The Taste of Mackerel) is less obviously elegiac than its English one, Ozu’s masterpiece is truly autumnal, charting the inevitable eclipse of older generations by irreverent youth. 

An Autumn Afternoon is chosen as the final programming choice of Showroom's departing Head of Programming and founder of Showroom Spotlight, Ryan Finnigan, who will introduce this special screening. 

Director Yasujiro Ozu
Year 1963
Duration 1h 53m
Language Japanese with English subtitles
Cast Shima Iwashita, Chishū Ryū, Keiji Sada