One of cinema’s fondest farewells, AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON was Yasujirô Ozu’s final masterpiece, with a last shot that will break your heart in the gentle way only Ozu could. In this achingly poignant conclusion to Ozu’s remarkable filmography, aging widower Shuhei Hirayama (Ozu regular Chishu Ryu) lives with his son Kazue and daughter Michiko, who looks after both men. Shuhei spends his days with his childhood friends, reminiscing about old times. After a former teacher visits them, Shuhei realizes he is selfishly shielding Michiko from love in order to keep her at home and sets about to arrange her marriage. An elegant and tender observation of family and the passage of time, AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON concludes with Shuhei alone. His solitude, though he designed and encouraged it, stuns him. The permanence of goodbyes—the death of a loved one, the departure of a child who has become an adult—seeps into every corner of the house and the frame, with a cinematic conclusion that is the very definition of loneliness.