‘Late Spring, directed and co-written by Yasujiro Ozu, was released in 1949, which makes it an old film, or a film that has been new for a long time . . .’ In this startling new book Adam Mars-Jones dives into the mysteries of a single classic Japanese film and comes back with any number of surprises. Sometimes (he says) works of art need to be defended against their advocates, and great films rescued from their reputations. Masterpieces are not fragile but robust. They can stand up to more than a reverent dusting.

Adam Mars-Jones writes fiction and non-fiction, and ­reviewed films for the Independent between 1986 and 1997. Noriko Smiling follows closely on the heels of Cedilla, the second novel in the Pilcrow sequence, making 2011 an annus productibilis if not necessarily mirabilis for him. This wayward talent has moved from a snail-like work-rate to a gallop, and should slow down before he overtakes Trollope or breaks a leg.