The Ozu thread.

His family dynamic stuff reminds me of Henry James.

there are a few ozu films that are more overtly didactic. "brothers and sisters of the toda family" starts out like many of the more familiar films but winds up in a very very didactic, even strident mode that i wasn't comfortable with. some of the silent films, too, are a bit didactic in a proto-neorealist vein ("an inn in tokyo"). there are of course didactic elements even in some of the best late films, but they are muted and no one character is ever made to be the "voice of the film" so to speak.

(cozen how are you?)

this doesn't accord with my limited knowledge of ozu, but there are so many questions begged i don't see how it ever could. if the family is an agent of 'oppression', whence that oppression? if you wanted a film that showed 'the individual vs the family', then 'rebel without a cause' might be a better place to look than ozu, but even if it were true of ozu, counterposing the individual to the collective unit is hardly incompatible with conservatism, which is all about the realization that social obligations cause suffering. which conservatives argue for *more* social obligations?

I need to see more.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/16/movies/homevideo/16dvd.html

It's funny how people fuss about the low camera angles, when the characters sit on the floor so often.

I liked that guy who usually plays fathers in the mid- to late period. You know, that guy.

The parent-child plots are so similar I have trouble distinguishing unless I see a bunch of them in succession.

ihttp://scoopsnoodle.com/future/goodmorning.html

the way the lighter than usual for ozu subject matter plays with his trademark cinematography is absolutely effervescent!

http://scoopsnoodle.com/future/futurepix/GoodMorning.jpg

The latest batch!

Yes! I ordered and have mine on the way. Can't wait to watch them.

criterion/eclipse is doing some silent ozus.

I know Tokyo Story is supposed to be moving. But it just isn't for me. I don't know if it's because everyone in it is generally so stoic?

The best dialogue is near the end: "Life is disappointing, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is."

It's behind Early Summer and Floating Weeds for me – it takes a while to realize why Ozu ping-pongs the couple from child to child – but it's one of those movies that the rewatching of which really makes you love it.

An Autumn Afternoon has the most shattering conclusion of any Ozu film; I did weep.

http://www.familylosangeles.com/blog/uploaded_images/CinefamilyNovDec-743705.jpg

what's that from?

hi jed, the comics reporter site pointed me to this link:

http://www.familylosangeles.com/blog/2008/11/did-you-know-this-is-out.html

The Eclipse series of Criterion has released a shitload of early and late Ozu, some of which have never even gotten a VHS release. I just got Equinox Flower from the library.

I watched Equinox Flower last night and it was excellent!

that ware poster is amazing. need a copy.

So I have finally seen some Ozu films - Tokyo Story and his last one. I was somewhat surprised by them - I had picked up the idea (largely from this thread) that they would be a bit, er, boring. But they are very eventful, even if on a global scale not that much happens in them. I also loved how good natured they are.

I was going to revive this thread because Early Spring looked enticing at the library a few minutes ago.

http://www.bfi.org.uk/whatson/bfi_southbank/film_programme/january_seasons/yasujiro_ozu

I recommend Late Autumn, probably my second favourite after Tokyo Story.