GREAT CINEMAMASTER LIST
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great film.

Search 713 spoiler-free recommendations from 1916 to 2026. Filter by the night you want—not the list you’re supposed to finish.

Direct film viewShowing master rank #650 on its own—not above the ranking.
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Artwork
DirectorAll directors

Most represented · 6+ films

More recurring directors · 3–5 films54
All directors · surname A–Z438
ActorAll actors

Most represented actors

Big Three membership
Major award winners

1 selected film

Master Rank balances Greatness, Engagement, and Ease. Sort by Greatness for the artistic-canon view.

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View An Autumn Afternoon film page
Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List

Spoiler-free premise

Widower Shūhei Hirayama considers arranging daughter Michiko's marriage after meeting a former teacher embittered by dependence on his own daughter.

Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free

Tokyo widower Shūhei Hirayama lives with unmarried daughter Michiko and younger son Kazuo. A reunion with former teacher Sakuma, whose daughter sacrificed marriage to care for him, pushes Hirayama toward arranging Michiko's future despite their comfortable routine.

Why it belongs

Through bars, offices, golf, home corridors, and Ryū's widower recognizing loneliness as responsibility, An Autumn Afternoon makes parental release quietly devastating.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

Beer glasses, red kettles, factory corridors, school reunions, matchmaking visits, empty rooms, and low fixed frames let repetition register change; Chishū Ryū's final solitude arrives without melodramatic emphasis.

Major award wins

No verified wins in this six-institution crosswalk.

Awards are reference metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20
Good for
Film Club
Descriptive guidance derived from rating, genre, runtime, mood, and GCML scores.

Institutional reference ranks

Sight & Sound185IMDb Top 250—AFI 100—
Reference metadata only · not part of the 40/40/20 score

Great Cinema Master List scores

Greatness9.0
Engagement6.9
Ease5.8

Japanese · Not Rated
Narrative Feature
Mood: Reflective & Challenging