It's hard to believe it's been about a year since I introduced myself to Yasujiro Ozu. It was then when I made one of the most important of my film purchases by buying "Tokyo Story". The first time I viewed the film I didn't know what to make of it, it was a new style, and leisurely paced. There was hardly any real manipulative emotion in it. By the end I wasn't sure I liked the film, but something strange happened, I kept thinking about it. Days past and images of the film were in my mind, I was also intrigued by the theme of the disintegration of the family, and the gaps between generation. I decided to give the film another chance. This time I noticed small nuances in characters and subtleties in the dialogue I had not noticed before, by the end I had a clearer understanding of the beauty that the film was. I've watched it over and over and again with an audio commentary, I wanted to learn more and more about the film and Ozu in particular.
This was an exciting time for me, I love discovering a new film that you just fall in love with. It was like the first time I heard Dylan's "Blonde on Blonde" or the first time I read a book by Dickens, it was something new, something that required my attention. It wasn't just the film, but it was the style and the themes. I wanted to experience more films by Ozu. Soon I found "Early Summer" a film about a family trying to get their daughter to marry, then came "Late Spring", a film with the same basic plot, but this time it's about a widowed father and his daughter who lives with him. The father knows he must marry off his daughter before she gets too old, but the daughter wants to stay with her father. The ending of the film is heartbreaking and it made me a lover of Japanese actress Setsuko Hara who plays the daughter and Chishu Ryu who plays the father. "Late Spring" and "Tokyo Story" remain two of my favorite films, it is very rare that I've seen so much humanity in two films such as these.
I cannot say much about the style of Ozu since I have only seen eight of his 50+ films he made. His films are still pretty hard to find, and were only available in North America in the 70s. His films were described as being too Japanese to fit in the western world. I tend to disagree with that, even though Ozu deals with the Japanese way of life, his themes are universal. What I observed through his films is he has a very unfussy style. He very rarely uses establishing shots in his films, and usually just makes straight cuts to the next scene. He does not seem to be a stickler for continuity and is a strong offender of the 180 degree rule, but it doesn't seem to matter. He focuses on the characters and the situations, he cares about what the actors are doing. The actors in Ozu's films seem to give more natural performances than say a Kurosawa film which are usually more theatrical. Ozu also doesn't depend on manipulative emotion to control his story, the emotion in his films are subtle and raw, he's probably the closest I've seen of showing tragedy in its purest most real form. In real life it's very uncommon to see people cry in a public showing, Ozu shows the inner sadness of these people, and the poetry that is part of everyday life.
As summer is upon us and the Hollywood blockbuster is dominating every major screen in North America, I took time away from that all to reflect on some newly discovered (at least for me) work by Ozu the film maker. A new box set of some of Ozu's later work was released a few weeks ago. Entitled "Late Ozu", it comes courtesy of a surrogate of The Criterion Collection entitled The Eclipse Series. Here are the titles I've just experienced, I suggest anyone else does the same.
Early Spring: A married salary man in postwar Tokyo becomes bored with his mundane life and decides to have an illicit affair with a flirtatious co-worker. This is a real moving portrait of a disintegrating marriage and also the harsh realities of being an office worker knowing that the rest of your life is already mapped out for you.
Tokyo Twilight: One of the most devastatingly tragic films I've ever seen. I was shocked to hear that this was not one of Ozu's most successful or acclaimed films, my theory is because it is probably his most melodramatic and least Ozu-like film. No matter, it is an emotionally charged film about two sisters with their own separate problems, and their disillusioned father. The story deals with separation, abortion, and alienation perhaps better than any film I've seen, but it mostly deals with a disintegration of the family unit, which is something Ozu focused on countless times. I guess what affected me most about this film was how Ozu seemed to by focusing on characters I already knew. I was touched and saddened by each one. The decision of each character in the film was so true and real, and Ozu never compromises which makes it more powerful. I found every character to be perfectly human, this was an unforgettable film, a masterpiece.
Equinox Flower: A more light hearted film and Ozu's first color film. It's about a stubborn businessman who disapproves of his daughter's fiance, but learns very slowly to accept the modern romance. The film follows the theme of the older generation's reluctance to accept the new changes of the younger. I found it to be a very in depth character study of the indecisive father, who never falls into the traps of stereotype but becomes very complex and human.
Late Autumn: A spin on Ozu's earlier film "Late Spring" this time it's a mother who must marry off her daughter. In an inspired casting decision Ozu cast Setsuko Hara (who played the daughter role in the earlier film) as the mother. The film is more on the lighter side thanks to the characters of three elderly business men who play matchmaker with the daughter, but it becomes poignantly sad at the end as the mother and daughter must leave the other behind to start a new life.
The End of Summer: A blending of comedy and tragedy, as three sisters must deal with their elderly father who is spending time with his old mistress. The film starts off as a soft hearted comical tale, but takes an unexpected turn. The ending is strong and poignant with a great summation about life and death and the cycle we all become a part of.
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