Early Summer

Early Summer is a 1951 Japanese drama directed by Yasujirō Ozu, the eighth of the sixteen films he made. Set in postwar Tokyo, it follows Noriko Mamiya, a 28-year-old woman who works as a secretary and still lives with her extended family. Her parents, brother and sister-in-law worry that she remains unmarried, and their pressure grows when her boss suggests a match. Noriko values her independence and intends to choose a husband herself, and a reunion with a widowed childhood friend complicates the family's expectations further. Kōgo Noda and Ozu wrote the screenplay, and Takeshi Yamamoto produced it for Shochiku.

Setsuko Hara plays Noriko, with Chishū Ryū, Chikage Awashima, Kuniko Miyake, Ichirō Sugai and Chieko Higashiyama in supporting roles. Hara and Ryū had appeared the previous year in Late Spring, the film Ozu made before this one; his next, The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice, followed in 1952.

The film runs 125 minutes and holds an IMDb rating of 8 out of 10 from around 11,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 7.8 from roughly 214 votes. Critics rated it 9.2 out of 10 from eleven reviews, placing it somewhat above the audience scores.