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Ozu takes the simple family home at the center of the film and turn it into an almost Grand Guignol turnstile of characters and situations, letting the stoic, static qualities of his unmistakable camerawork simply monitor and document the comings and goings of this gaggle of unique subjects. It's almost off-putting - in the same way Tokyo Story can be, to be fair - to watch the lack of "flinch" that Ozu's camera seems to have here. Never does that camera turn away from incidents or frame activity in a way that truncates or stylizes anything - the camera just sits, quietly judging and monitoring its subjects.

But what makes Early Summer so transcendent in so many ways is the way this seemingly sterile camera style ends up adding so much more to the movie it creates than one would ever think possible. If fellow Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurusawa's liberated cinematography houses the sleek gloss of a plasma-screen monitor, Ozu's camera is like the equivalent of a rusty, creaky old Zenith TV - half the time it seems like it's broken or off-kilter.

Yet that run-down quality lets Ozu's work come out of left field and affect you when you least expect it - with Kurusawa, it's obvious that there are great things happening. And Early Summer is a great example of Ozu's most impressive work. As this seemingly standard ensemble ebbs and flows through its superb narrative, it becomes obvious that Ozu's plain-Jane camerawork is turning above-average source material into something truly and unmistakably extraordinary.

Video: How does the disc look?

Perhaps a half-step up from the video transfer on Ozu's 2003 Tokyo Story Criterion DVD, Early Summer looks fine, but not overly impressive. The print has been cleaned up nicely, but there's a lack of consistent line quality and contrast levels, and while black levels are strong, there's quite a bit of strobing that limits the overall clarity of the film as a whole. Not great, but still a step up from VHS.

Audio: How does the disc sound?

Again, Criterion sticks with its monaural guns and delivers a sound mix that is notably crisper than any other audio format Early Summer has ever occupied outside a cinema, but its crackly mono roots make it an iffy affair at best. Music sounds okay, and while there are very few sound effects to speak of, they're placed in the mix with nice exploitation. Dialogue still sounds rough, but it's been upgraded as far as it can go.

Supplements: What goodies are there?

Donald Richie's screen-specific audio commentary on Early Summer is revelatory, if not wholly entertaining. This Japanese-film expert and author of multiple books on the subject definitely knows Early Summer inside and out and has a benevolent admiration for Ozu that allows for a wonderfully astute analysis of his modality and tone. But for anyone other than a fellow Japanese film scholar, this one might be a bit difficult to get through in one sitting.

Ozu's Films From Behind the Scenes is an outstanding 47-minute documentary that features excellent contemporary interviews with child-actor and sound technician Kojiro Suematsu, assistant cameraman Takashi Kawamata, and producer Shizuo Yamanouchi. It's simple, easy-going and often quite funny - just like their beloved Ozu and his films.

Rounding out this edition is the film's theatrical trailer.

There are also two great essays included in the booklet for this release. Jim Jarmusch has some intriguing thoughts on Ozu and his legacy, and renowned scholar David Bordwell does almost as much as commentator Donald Richie to shed some light on Ozu's influence in Japan and internationally.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

No ROM features have been included.

Parting Thoughts