Cert PG
112 mins
BBFC advice: Contains mild sex references
Despite being my everyfilm partner-in-crime I am not too sure that Mrs W has got into the swing of being a movie connoisseur.
So what does she do when I stick on a DVD of Yazujiro Ozu's much acclaimed re-released Japanese 1962 comedy drama? She falls asleep.
She may watch a heck of a lot of movies but the lass is impervious to an attempt to make her a cinema nerd.
To be fair, while she was conscious she remarked that An Autumn Afternoon did give an interesting insight into Japanese culture in the aftermath of the Second World War.
But she was lulled into the land of nod by the fact that the storyline wasn't strong enough to keep her attention.
To that end I sympathised. While I was taken with the style and humour of Ozu's film, there wasn't enough going on for me to agree with critics who hail it a classic.
The plot surrounds the increasing pressure on a widower (Chishu Ryu) to find a suitable husband for his daughter (Shima Iwashita).
But he is less than keen to see her hitched because she looks after the family home while he spends much of his time getting sozzled with his mates.
These drinking sessions prompt the films laughs but also a sense of pathos because question of the loneliness of old age hangs over the movie like smog.
An Autumn Afternoon is well acted and smartly directed but most of all there is a wonderful sense of style and respect which is so typical of this era of Japanese cinema.
Laughs: Three
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 6.5/10