晚春 Late Spring

Artist
Po Hung

Medium: 
Risograph print. Limited edition of 20. 

Dimensions: 
11.7 x 16.5 in

Delivery: 
Hong Kong 5 working days
Global delivery, 20 - 25 working days

-
BEHIND the SEEN
晚春 by 小津安二郎
Late Spring by Yasujirō Ozu

Introduction
《晚春》係小津安二朗導演1949年嘅名作。故事圍繞小津「簽名式」嘅家庭倫理，講述一個亡妻嘅單親家庭，爸爸周吉（笠智眾飾）同女兒紀子（原節子飾）一齊生活，成部電影圍繞女兒出嫁前嘅經過。電影結局，女兒婚禮完結後，父親獨自返屋企，佢開咗客廳嘅燈，坐喺安樂椅上削蘋果休息。削完蘋果皮嗰一刻，佢稍微停低咗，似乎若有所思，電影就此結束。

我呢張作品就係致敬《晚春》嘅結局場景。畫面係基於我响設計學校Year 1時嘅攝影功課真實故事，而背景換上我住公屋時候嘅回憶。當年我開始迷上咗小津安二郎嘅電影，而智眾飾係小津嘅御用男演員，大多數演父親角色。而喺佢嘅電影入面，父親嘅形象都好一致，無論表情同動作我都覺得好有我父親嘅影子。

其實我同我父親嘅關係一直都頗疏離，但隨住我年紀漸長，開始明白上一代嘅管教方式同自己嘅理想係有好大偏差。而嗰次邀請我父親喺我的作業中「出演」，算係邁出咗溝通嘅一步。嗰一年亦係我媽媽過世嘅一年，我請我父親幫忙重演《晚春》呢個場景，都可能都同媽媽嘅過世有關。

"Late Spring" is a classic film directed by Yasujirō Ozu in 1949. The story revolves around Ozu's signature family ethics, depicting a single-parent family after the wife has passed away. The father, Shoji (played by Chishu Ryu), lives with his daughter, Noriko (played by Setsuko Hara), and the entire film centers around the events leading up to Noriko's marriage. In the film’s conclusion, after the daughter's wedding, the father returns home alone, turns on the living room light, sits in an armchair, and rests while peeling an apple. At the moment he finishes peeling the apple, he pauses as if lost in thought, and the film ends.

This work of mine is a tribute to the concluding scene of "Late Spring." It is based on a real story from my photography assignment during Year 1 at design school, with the background changed to my memories of living in public housing. Back then, I became fascinated with Ozu's films, and Chishu Ryu was Ozu's regular actor, mostly portraying father roles. In his films, the image of the father is very consistent, and I feel a strong resemblance to my own father in terms of his expressions and actions.

In fact, my relationship with my father has always been somewhat distant. As I grew older, I began to understand that there were discrepancies between the parenting methods of the previous generation and my own ideals. Inviting my father to "perform" in my project was a step towards communication. That year was also the year my mother passed away. Asking my father to help reenact the scene from "Late Spring" may have been connected to my mother's passing.