Review of Early Summer

A snapshot in the lives of a family going through rapid changes after several years of a peaceful existence. The story is focused on, but not confined to the youngest daughter. She is pressured by the family to finally get married to a man proposed by her boss but has ideas of her own, something almost unheard of in a traditional Japanese family of the time. The real charm of the film is that it paints a peaceful but realistic portrait of family life with it's subtle pulls and pressures without resorting to melodrama. The ending is almost bitter-sweet, as all change in life always is.

8/10