Haruka naru yama no yobigoe

This is my favorite of the films I've seen by director Yoji. Its a simple story, but its so well put together and the two leads, Ken Takakura and Chicko Baisho, both of whom have acted in Yoji films, give straightforward but heartfelt performances. Ms. Baisho's character is a widow with a young child running a farm in northern Japan. On a very rainy night Mr. Takskura's character appears, asking to spend the night. He stays on as a hired hand. The best thing is that there is not a cliché to be found in this film. As the hired hand came from parts unknown and does not appear to have anywhere to go, you wonder where he came from. You find out eventually, but I want you to see this film for the superb direction, story and acting. I really liked Mr. Yoji's "The Yellow Handkerchief" (which Mr. Takakura also gave a stellar performance), but I loved this film. Highly recommended.

I first saw this film at the Hong Kong International Film Festival in 1981 and have often looked for it since (without any luck). Of the 50 films I saw in those 16 days (including masterpieces by Angelopoulos, and Syberberg's Hitler, A Film From Germany), Yamada's simple story turned out to be my favorite. When it recently turned up in a 5-disk Yoji Yamada box set, I immediately ordered it. Well, the disk is very poor quality, a murky transfer with the widescreen compositions butchered by a truly wretched pan-and-scan job -- and yet the quality of the film still manages to shine through.

On its surface, there's nothing particularly remarkable about A Distant Cry From Spring. A widow struggles to maintain a small farm in a remote area of Hokkaido, fighting the elements and raising her young son. One brutally stormy night, a stranger appears at the door looking for shelter. Though wary, the widow offers him her hospitality. He leaves, but then returns in the spring and asks for work, desiring only room and board in return. What follows is the depiction of a slowly developing emotional bond set against a beautifully observed portrait of daily life on the farm, an endless round of backbreaking chores which constantly threaten to overwhelm the lonely woman.

There is nothing terribly surprising in the revelations which eventually emerge about the characters, but they are so finely drawn and their emotional lives resonate with such authenticity, that only a cold-blooded viewer could fail to be moved by the film's resolution.

Yamada is a master of emotional nuance and a brilliant observer of the small details of ordinary lives, which he obviously holds in some kind of awe, and in which he finds a kind of magic. He makes you feel for the characters without ever stooping to sentimentality or easy manipulation. His work deserves to be more widely known, and he certainly deserves better treatment from DVD distributors.

I have first seen this movie in the 80s. I was only a child and the movie was on Romanian television, who at that time only transmitted in black & white. Funny how I still remembered the opening scene with the stranger arriving at an isolated farm during a storm. I found the movie now almost by chance. I heard that Ken Takakura died last year and I was very sad to hear it, I always liked his stoic acting. I searched IMDb for his movies and found this one among others. I love the movie. I have seen others with better plot, better directing, maybe better actors ... maybe. But there is something so authentic, so simple and yet so deep about this movie that I just love it. By the way, the last scene is incredible. One of the all-time classics, in my opinion. If you can get the movie don't miss it.

The very slow pace challenged me (as sometimes happens when I'm not in the ideal mood for a slower film), but it's subtle in a way that largely works, has beautiful visuals, and Chieko Baisho is as good as always.

I can see why her and Yoji Yamada collaborated dozens of times over so many decades, because her acting and his direction always seems to work so well together.

It's also always fun to see Kiyoshi Atsumi show up in a more serious Yamada film and bring a small amount of levity to a scene or two. As is the case with Yoji Yamada, A Distant Cry from Spring is worth watching because it's by the filmmaker alone; his stuff is always worthwhile.

A widowed mother lives with his only son of 8 in a remote place of a village, takes care her farm full of cows and crops. She works hard especially in the springs. One rainy night an unknown man comes to take shelter and goes away the next morning. He comes back after some days and tells that he will work with her in exchange of his shelter. The woman takes him as a salaried staff. The man and the woman work a lot in the farm. Day by day the unknown and mysterious man win the heart of the mother and son both. But everything is not everlasting. The man must have to leave for a reason. What is the reason? Why he came here?

One of the best drama movies ever. The place where the movie is located is such a great place full of natural elements. I love this movie. Recommended.