Yasujiro Ozu
What so you make of Yasujiro Ozu's films and what have you seen?
I just watched An Autumn Afternoon (1962) and found it to be a film that was mundane, although insightful and relevant in content - not something I would normally be drawn to, however in style it really stood out. I believe, An Autumn Afternoon is the only film of his I've seen, but am interested in seeing more. The film had a very calming effect with characters speaking largely in proper and level tones and pitches without a lot of emotional exuberance or grandstanding or long winded speeches. It was a very pleasant and relaxing film experience. Also much has been said about Ozu breaking the 180 degree rule and also keeping his camera at a knee or waist level, but a couple things I also picked up on that I didn't read about is how static his camera is. I don't think the camera itself moved once in the entire film, but rather people and objects moved within the frame. It also looked like he used a lot of deep focus shots so that everything in the background and most of the foreground was in focus. In addition to this point there was a lot of straight line back depth and layers. The image is flat, but within it you might have four of five layers of lateral depths going on at once. Also the frame for many of the indoor scenes seemed to be bordered by vertical objects such as a door frame or a cabinet or large object in the foreground. In this way the framing reminded me a lot of a Chinese director, Wong Kar Wai (In the Mood for Love) although his camera constantly moves and tracks. While I've seen hundreds and hundreds of French films and nearly as many Italian films, Japanese films with the exception of Kurosawa, are a weak spot in viewership for me. One of my favorite non Kurosawa films is Ugetsu and I also liked Branded to Kill and a few other Suzuki films, but on the whole Japanese cinema is a weak spot. What do you make of Ozu's films and what do you recommend? There's quite a few on Criterion Channel right now. |
Re: Yasujiro Ozu
I've seen all of his films since Late Spring, except for one or two. They're all of a very high quality. Not one false note. And even many of the films he made before Late Spring are highly regarded.
An Autumn Afternoon was my first watch of his as well. After that, I mostly started watching his other color films (his last six films are all in color). Mainly because I immediately thought he used colors beautifully. But his black and white films are most certainly on the same level. I had the luck of being able to see some of them on the big screen. Basically: you can't go wrong with Ozu. Some of my personal favorites: An Autumn Afternoon Floating Weeds Good Morning Tokyo Twilight Early Spring Tokyo Story Late Spring But as I said: all of his films are worth watching! |
Re: Yasujiro Ozu
Why do you people watch his last film as your first? LOL.
My first was the boring choice of Tokyo Story - I had thought it was everybody's first up to now. I've seen 31 Ozu films to date and Tokyo Twilight is my favorite black'n'white Ozu, whereas Floating Weeds is my favorite color Ozu. That's a very good summary of his late style, @iluv2viddyfilms. I'd say his silent movies are a must-see, too. Different from his late stuff but quite fascinating as well. I Was Born, But... is probably the no-brainer you should start from (though I owe Ozu a rewatch of this movie). But Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth?, Woman of Tokyo, Passing Fancy, Tokyo Chorus etc. are all worthwhile, too. |
Re: Yasujiro Ozu
I think Ozu is a filmmaker's filmmaker. Basically Jim Jarmusch has spent his career paying homage to Ozu and his framing, dialogue and techniques. Many directors adore Ozu's work because it's so heartfelt and real.
But aside from a film like 'Good Morning', Ozu's work isn't something I'd recommend to the filmgoer on the street. It's too literal. |
Re: Yasujiro Ozu
I only saw one of his movies: Late Spring. I liked it for its direction and realism, but it didn't really stand out as it felt too close to home, as if anyone could write that story if they just talked about how they met their husband. Basically, it was accurate, but not "inventive" enough for me. Since I saw it years ago, the most experience with any "Ozu" is the old dude from Kappy Mikey.
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Re: Yasujiro Ozu
Love Ozu movies.
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Originally Posted by Mr Minio (Post 2428140)
Why do you people watch his last film as your first? LOL.
I really do like his style, which is completely different from today's film grip having seizures camera movements and all over the place shots with little shot composition or structure to the framing or mise en scene blocking. It's one of the reasons I can't stand Chris Nolan's style who seems to be an opposite of filmmaker as Ozu. Someone here mentioned Jim Jarmusch, which I completely get. I really love how Jarmusch framed his shots in Dead Man. |
Originally Posted by KeyserCorleone (Post 2428153)
Iit didn't really stand out as it felt too close to home, as if anyone could write that story if they just talked about how they met their husband
Originally Posted by iluv2viddyfilms (Post 2428208)
I really do like his style, which is completely different from today's film grip having seizures camera movements and all over the place shots with little shot composition or structure to the framing or mise en scene blocking. It's one of the reasons I can't stand Chris Nolan's style who seems to be an opposite of filmmaker as Ozu.
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Re: Yasujiro Ozu
I don't really need it to take me to other lands, I just need it to be the kind of movie where I don't guess the ending one act in.
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Originally Posted by KeyserCorleone (Post 2428226)
I don't really need it to take me to other lands, I just need it to be the kind of movie where I don't guess the ending one act in.
This is true of emotions, too. The greatest mastery is not to use sentimental music to elicit tears from the viewer, but to squeeze these tears out without any musical accompaniment at all. The true mastery is not to use National Geographic-lite "beautiful" shots of nature, but to compose the frame in such an eternally beautiful way that seemingly only Communist filmmakers can. Maybe because by discarding the capitalist mode of production and commercialism, they can focus on the beauty found within the faces of people and the inanimate stillness of things, both of which are forgone for twists, action, understandable plot points, and surprises at each corner, the typical toolset of craftsmen that look after nothing but money. https://i.imgur.com/CwZxS83.png The factors I just mentioned, including "unpredictability", are some of the factors of conventional product-movie, a sign of cinephilic normism that sees movies as a means of excitement rather than the elevation of the soul. |
Re: Yasujiro Ozu
But the events are ones we've all seen before. We've already lived it. A story should at least have some sense of imagination as well as observation, balancing the two. If we know what's going on through the whole movie, why bother seeing it? For the acting? The direction? That just means everything else about the movie is better than the story.
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I've seen a few of his films:
Late Spring Tokyo Story An Autumn Afternoon I Was Born, But . . . Floating Weeds A Story of Floating Weeds I really liked or loved all of them. I think that he does an amazing job of capturing how big everyday moments can feel, and also the double-edged sword of growing up/aging. Generally speaking, there's also quite a bit of empathy toward most or all of the characters, so that the drama just comes from life being life. |
His ability to distill the common place dramas of ordinary lives to their essence is poetry as it's most fundamental. It draws attention to the beauty of life. Of family. Of friendship. Of good times and bad times.
The idea that he should do more to make his films less like our everyday lives, is to kill what makes his movies so affecting and daring. |
Re: Yasujiro Ozu
Well he's in my top 10 more than likely, with Tokyo Story and Late Spring my two favorites.
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Re: Yasujiro Ozu
All of these comments (especially you, Mr. Minio) are very helpful. I have not made it to Ozu yet, but I am thinking that he will be my big project for the coming year.
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Originally Posted by KeyserCorleone (Post 2428257)
But the events are ones we've all seen before. We've already lived it. A story should at least have some sense of imagination as well as observation, balancing the two. If we know what's going on through the whole movie, why bother seeing it? For the acting? The direction? That just means everything else about the movie is better than the story.
https://i.imgur.com/g8cODbg.png To continue with the Communist thread, stories are a bourgeoisie invention. It's not what you say but how you say it. |
Originally Posted by Mr Minio (Post 2428281)
To continue with the Communist thread, stories are a bourgeoisie invention. It's not what you say but how you say it.
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Originally Posted by KeyserCorleone (Post 2428282)
I'm just gonna leave the whole Marcel Proust schpeel
Anyway, whatever. Watch Tokyo Twilight. |
Re: Yasujiro Ozu
I've only seen three of his films but I've loved/liked all of them. Late Spring was my first one and I thought it was fantastic. Tokyo Story is great as well. An Autumn Afternoon wasn't as good as those two, but it still was very good. I look forward to checking more of his films.
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I like
My favorite foreign language (non-English) director. I like him better than Kurosawa. Loved everything I've seen from Ozu so far. |
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