Well… Another evening, another Yoji Yamada film… or rather I should say another Chieko Baisho film 
Where Spring Comes Late / 家族 (1970)
A poor family of husband, wife, young boy, baby girl and husband’s father move from a mining town on a small island off Nagasaki in the 九州 region to a farming village in the 北海道 region.
This, because the husband is tired of being ordered around and is daydreaming about living off the land, yet is short-sighted and lacks a clear vision for the future (mmm sounds somewhat familiar). The wife is reluctant to uproot but she’s not willing to let him go on his own so they embark on a weeklong trip that takes them across the whole of Japan by several trains and a couple of ferries - and from cherry trees in blossom in the South to the still snow-blanketed North.
So that’s where the English/international title comes from, although I feel the Japanese title is much more appropriate.
Because although it starts off as an almost cheerful adventure is actually fraught with hardship, regret, anxiety and even tragedy. The family relationships are put to the test, but there is a happy ending, as life goes on.
In a way it’s a collection of postcards from Japan, in another is a social commentary on the industrial churn and economic boom of the 60s-70s and its toll on the lower worker classes (similar to how China is nowadays, I suppose?).
Chieko Baisho is again very good, even though she was younger and less experienced than in the other films.
The male standout though is not the husband role, but that of his father, played rather superbly by Chishu Ryu - the patriarch from Tokyo Story / 東京物語, for reference.
So. A very good story with good performances, but held back a little (for me) by a lot of scenes shot in a almost documentary-like way and with a few attempts at humour that feel a bit out of place here.
8/10