The world just found out that Setsuko Hara has died. Ozu’s muse, she was prominently linked with the great director in the ‘Noriko trilogy’: Late Spring, Tokyo Story, and Early Summer — some of the greatest of Ozu’s films. She was that elegant, demure Japanese woman on screen. Later on in life she was a recluse and very private. So it doesn’t come as a shock to find out she died back in September. It is only being reported now. Sad.
I’m currently on a Yasujiro Ozu kick, because, in reality, I’m on a Setsuko Hara kick. I’ve finished up his and her collaboration in the Noriko “trilogy,” Late Spring, Early Summer, and Tokyo Story. I find that Late Spring is the best of the three, and that Early Summer is a comedy.
I’m slowly tracking down Ozu’s films from Criterion looking for that Eclipse box set with late Ozu and a mature Hara. She’s also in a couple of Kurosawa films also in an Eclipse box set.
Hara is especially fascinating. She’s still alive and was the model for the Satoshi Kon’s Millenium Actress. I need to catch more of her films.
