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Hi Movie Forums,
In this thread I'll be reviewing the filmographies of two great artists: director Yasujiro Ozu and actress Setsuko Hara. Everyone else is invited to contribute discussion or follow along. Enjoy!
Yasujirō Ozu
born 1903 Tokyo, Japan
hired 1923 by Shochiku Film Co. (worked as an assistant in the cinematography department)
directed his first feature film in 1927
Ozu would have grown up in the early years of cinema, at a time when audiences were mesmerized just to see other people's faces and moving images on screen. He fell in love with films as a teenager, then decided he wanted to become a director. When he beat up a Shochiku colleague for cutting the lunch line, Ozu was called into the studio head's office, presumably to be fired. Instead, the maestro pitched a script and won himself a promotion.
Once in the director's chair, Ozu started his career with youthful slice-of-life comedies, before transitioning towards a more serious tone. It was after the war, during his renowned late period, that Ozu directed some of the most beloved classics in the history of cinema, for which he is known today.
Setsuko Hara
born Masae Aida 1920 Yokohama, Japan
debuted as an actress 1935 for Nikkatsu Studios
starred in films for Ozu, Kurosawa, and Mikio Naruse later in her career
Miss Hara was identified as a beauty with a warm personality and nice profile from a young age, and it was her brother-in-law, the director Hisatora Kumagai, who encouraged her to leave school and become an actress, aged 15. She made her debut in the young person's drama Don't Hesitate, Young People! (1935), but it was her starring role in the infamous Nazi Germany / Imperial Japanese co-production -- The Daughter of the Samurai (1937) that brought her international fame.
After appearing in a number of wartime propaganda films, Hara went on to become the top actress in Japan during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Her luminous smile endeared her to audiences, and although she occasionally played the romantic lead or femme fatale, her best known roles portrayed her as the "ideal woman", someone who carefully balanced the traditional duties of a wife, mother, sister, or daughter, with a more modern, independent approach. Shusaku Endo, the great writer, once said of his country's reverence for her: "[When we saw a Setsuko Hara film], we would sigh or let out a great breath from the depths of our hearts, for what we felt was precisely this: can it be possible that there is such a woman in this world?"
The Noriko Trilogy
Ozu directed a total of 54 films, and Hara appeared in more than 100 herself, but they are forever linked by the six they made together, especially the three that constitute the Noriko Trilogy:
Late Spring (1949)
Early Summer (1951)
Tokyo Story (1953)
The Noriko Trilogy has often been cited by critics as the greatest trilogy of all-time. In all three films, Setsuko Hara plays the title character, but each Noriko is a different woman, expressing a thematic progression, from a single daughter who doesn't want to get married, to a daughter who does want to get married (but only on her terms), to finally a tragic widow who demonstrates profound love and kindness towards the parents of her dead husband, missing and presumed killed in action during World War II.
As the 1940s and 1950s progressed, Ozu and Hara's statures soared, and they developed a very close personal and professional relationship, until they made their last film together in 1961.
Two years later, Ozu was dead, and Hara abruptly retired. She never granted another interview or photograph again. The most beloved woman in Japan in her prime, she never married and had no children. Her love interests, if any, were never publicly disclosed. Combined with her youthful image being forever frozen in time, she earned the nickname "The Eternal Virgin", and lived out the rest of her years privately in Kamakura, the same seaside town where Ozu was buried. It had also been the setting for many of their films.
****************************************
So what is this thread about?
When I started watching Ozu and Setsuko Hara films, I took an immediate liking to both. Ozu had such a distinct, dignified shooting style, with perfect compositions, and minimalist approach. Miss Hara had the purest beauty, determined inner strength, and that famously warm smile, which sometimes expressed genuine playfulness or delight, but more often than not was just a mask meant to conceal very deep, even profound pain.
Tokyo Story is a universal film. It's ranked #1 on the most prestigious BFI Sight and Sound director's poll, and #3 on the critics list. Late Spring comes in at #15, and it's personally my favorite film.
Those are probably two good starting points if you want to check out their films, and then maybe you'll want to see more.
In this thread, we'll be watching all of them, every single one, at least the ones that survive. That includes a few titles from Kurosawa and Naruse, among other directors with whom Setsuko Hara worked. Unfortunately, many of their early films are lost, but even then I'll be posting stills and commentary whenever possible. Many other titles can be found online via streaming sites, or on DVD or Blu-ray. The thread will proceed in chronological order, to paint a picture of both artist's fascinating careers and lives, but everyone is invited to watch and contribute their own thoughts.
Up first, early Ozu 1927-1937, before the war, starting with his first film.
In this thread I'll be reviewing the filmographies of two great artists: director Yasujiro Ozu and actress Setsuko Hara. Everyone else is invited to contribute discussion or follow along. Enjoy!
Yasujirō Ozu
born 1903 Tokyo, Japan
hired 1923 by Shochiku Film Co. (worked as an assistant in the cinematography department)
directed his first feature film in 1927
Ozu would have grown up in the early years of cinema, at a time when audiences were mesmerized just to see other people's faces and moving images on screen. He fell in love with films as a teenager, then decided he wanted to become a director. When he beat up a Shochiku colleague for cutting the lunch line, Ozu was called into the studio head's office, presumably to be fired. Instead, the maestro pitched a script and won himself a promotion.
Once in the director's chair, Ozu started his career with youthful slice-of-life comedies, before transitioning towards a more serious tone. It was after the war, during his renowned late period, that Ozu directed some of the most beloved classics in the history of cinema, for which he is known today.
Setsuko Hara
born Masae Aida 1920 Yokohama, Japan
debuted as an actress 1935 for Nikkatsu Studios
starred in films for Ozu, Kurosawa, and Mikio Naruse later in her career
Miss Hara was identified as a beauty with a warm personality and nice profile from a young age, and it was her brother-in-law, the director Hisatora Kumagai, who encouraged her to leave school and become an actress, aged 15. She made her debut in the young person's drama Don't Hesitate, Young People! (1935), but it was her starring role in the infamous Nazi Germany / Imperial Japanese co-production -- The Daughter of the Samurai (1937) that brought her international fame.
After appearing in a number of wartime propaganda films, Hara went on to become the top actress in Japan during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Her luminous smile endeared her to audiences, and although she occasionally played the romantic lead or femme fatale, her best known roles portrayed her as the "ideal woman", someone who carefully balanced the traditional duties of a wife, mother, sister, or daughter, with a more modern, independent approach. Shusaku Endo, the great writer, once said of his country's reverence for her: "[When we saw a Setsuko Hara film], we would sigh or let out a great breath from the depths of our hearts, for what we felt was precisely this: can it be possible that there is such a woman in this world?"
The Noriko Trilogy
Ozu directed a total of 54 films, and Hara appeared in more than 100 herself, but they are forever linked by the six they made together, especially the three that constitute the Noriko Trilogy:
Late Spring (1949)
Early Summer (1951)
Tokyo Story (1953)
The Noriko Trilogy has often been cited by critics as the greatest trilogy of all-time. In all three films, Setsuko Hara plays the title character, but each Noriko is a different woman, expressing a thematic progression, from a single daughter who doesn't want to get married, to a daughter who does want to get married (but only on her terms), to finally a tragic widow who demonstrates profound love and kindness towards the parents of her dead husband, missing and presumed killed in action during World War II.
As the 1940s and 1950s progressed, Ozu and Hara's statures soared, and they developed a very close personal and professional relationship, until they made their last film together in 1961.
Two years later, Ozu was dead, and Hara abruptly retired. She never granted another interview or photograph again. The most beloved woman in Japan in her prime, she never married and had no children. Her love interests, if any, were never publicly disclosed. Combined with her youthful image being forever frozen in time, she earned the nickname "The Eternal Virgin", and lived out the rest of her years privately in Kamakura, the same seaside town where Ozu was buried. It had also been the setting for many of their films.
****************************************
So what is this thread about?
When I started watching Ozu and Setsuko Hara films, I took an immediate liking to both. Ozu had such a distinct, dignified shooting style, with perfect compositions, and minimalist approach. Miss Hara had the purest beauty, determined inner strength, and that famously warm smile, which sometimes expressed genuine playfulness or delight, but more often than not was just a mask meant to conceal very deep, even profound pain.
Tokyo Story is a universal film. It's ranked #1 on the most prestigious BFI Sight and Sound director's poll, and #3 on the critics list. Late Spring comes in at #15, and it's personally my favorite film.
Those are probably two good starting points if you want to check out their films, and then maybe you'll want to see more.
In this thread, we'll be watching all of them, every single one, at least the ones that survive. That includes a few titles from Kurosawa and Naruse, among other directors with whom Setsuko Hara worked. Unfortunately, many of their early films are lost, but even then I'll be posting stills and commentary whenever possible. Many other titles can be found online via streaming sites, or on DVD or Blu-ray. The thread will proceed in chronological order, to paint a picture of both artist's fascinating careers and lives, but everyone is invited to watch and contribute their own thoughts.
Up first, early Ozu 1927-1937, before the war, starting with his first film.
Last edited by Arigatō-san; 01-28-19 at 01:01 AM.
