I Was Born, But…

I Was Born, But… (Yasujiro Ozu, 1932)

Two young brothers become the leaders of a gang of kids in their neighborhood. Their father is an office clerk who tries for advancement by playing up his boss. When the boys visit the boss' house with their father, they discover that their dad has been making a fool of himself to please his boss, who's son is an outwitted member of the boys' gang. The brothers' revolt claiming that hierarchy should be based on ability, not on social background.

Tokyo Story

Tokyo Story aka Tokyo Monogatari (Yasujiro Ozu, 1953)

Topping the recent Directors list of the Sight and Sound 2012 poll, Yasujiro Ozu’s, the most Japanese of all Japanese directors, Tokyo Story is another amazing depiction of his understanding of human relationships, representing the evolution of the generational gaps, the dehumanization of the cities, and the selfishness of the modern human. When someone is getting into Japanese Cinema, one must enter with Akira Kurosawa’s Sword plays that invented the whole action genre with the following of Sergio Leone’s Westerns and most of the Americans major movie makers. While Kenji Mizoguchi isn’t the hardest Japanese filmmaker to discover after being wowed by Kurosawa’s mise en scène and tremendous camera placing. However, when one gets to Ozu he must enter without any preconceived vision of Japanese films. Ozu is like an old man telling old tales who knows every trick but is satisfied with his effective formula of simple and direct storytelling. He made almost only contemporary films depicting family issues and the little moments of the everyday life. A while ago, I remember reading the line that Ozu is compared with a tofu maker that doesn’t need to be handling hot subjects or very expensive fish or meat to make you an unforgettable offer.

#17 Yasujiro Ozu

Cinephiles who voted for Yasujiro Ozu:
Ed Howard
Iain Stott

Lists:
The Cinematheque
FilmJournal
Sight & Sound 2002 Poll (critics)
They Shoot Pictures Don't They?

Passing Fancy

One of Ozu's three films of 1933, Passing Fancy a Silent melodrama about a father, his son, a coworker, a young lady and a mature woman. On the story level, Passing Fancy is much like the other Ozu work, being on the level of the small events that make our daily life. They aren't grand scale pictures but I've already dissected Ozu's approach and touch on my precedent reviews and retrospectives I've already done on his films.

This films is insteresting on how it brings narrative elements of Ozu's storytelling. Being a silent film it gives another perspective on how Ozu developped his style. Already in 1933, he did the uncommon camera angles that caracterized one of his trademarks. The characters and their interactions with each other are build like in any of his films has many love/hate relationships and codependent groups that live together that everyone must help everyone if one demonstrated kindness.

To me, the main character, the father that tries to be a good dad but with his impulsive character and lack of experience does mistakes, as everyone in life, he represents Yasujiro Ozu as the young director that must fight with himself to be a great director (which he became). A great pre-war Japanese film!

The Only Son un film de Yasujiro Ozu - Retrospective

Made in 1936, The Only Son by Yasujiro Ozu reveals many themes he will aboard later in his career, conflicts between generations, misundertandings, poverty, pride, and family issues.

Since Ozu's style has already been discussed I would like to only mention that his naive use of technical "errors" with weird camera angles feels perfectly right here in the telling of The Only Son.

It's the story of a mother and her son gone to high school and ends up working as a night teacher. The mother goes to Tokyo to visit her son who is ashamed of what he has done with his life. He thinks his mother won't be proud of him and regret to have send him to high school.

Slow paced and sometimes a little loose The Only Son announces the main preoccupations of Ozu. Many said that his better period is the post-war era until his death; it is the era where he made his stronger and richest films in ratio. But, The Only Son should have reconsiderations as an early strong film. It is not as moving as Late Spring or Tokyo Story but it's still very interesting and universal in his themes.

It has the Ozu touch and Ozu feel in it. Once again it is a story that involves deep interactions between humans and their values and the main concept of family that populated Yasujiro Ozu's better work.

A Film Retrospective by Michaël Parent

Record of a Tenement Gentleman un film de Yasujiro Ozu - Retrospective

As Ozu's films this one is a domestic drama/comedy. The story begins when a little child (Kohei) is brought to a widow, Tane, that didn't had children. The kid was lost and his father loose him on his way to Tokyo. The lady don't want the child and does a long trip to find his father. They don't find him and she agrees to keep him at her home. She is angry of the events and she is mean and bitter against the little boy. She thinks a child is a nuisance to her life. Until the day he got away and she looses him, he misses her so much that when he comes back she changes completely her beings with him. Tane even wants to adopt the little Kohei... But events won't let her.

This is another amazingly deep and poignant film from Yasujiro Ozu. Without huge technical manoeuvres and a very sober directing style that caracterizes his most known films Ozu can tell a moving story in his own purged technique. Every Ozu film I've seen has something particular even if they have similar visual signature. They feel light and tender on the outside but they treat of heavy domestic issues. In this case it's a woman's discovery of her maternal instinct and need.

A Film Retrospective by Michaël Parent

Yasujiro Ozu tofu maker @ Sight & Sound Magazine

A really good essay on the Japanese Filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu at the Sight & Sound Magazine.

Ozu who you could have read my review of The Flavour of Green Tea over Rice on this Blog precedently. I'll be posting more Retrospectives of this great director that inspires me deep respect.

Retrospectives reviews to come from Ozu's films at Le Mot du Cinephiliaque:

Passing Fancy (1933)
The Only Son (1936)
The Record of A Tenement Gentleman (1947)

Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice un film de Yasujiro Ozu - Retrospective

Ozu's films are often categorized in periods or chapters of his filmography (Early or Silent films Late Ozu or Materpiece period). The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice of 1952 can be categorized as one of his later masterpieces. Just before his main film Tokyo Story (1953) and after Early Summer (1951). Being the fourth film I've seen from him this is made the one I appreciated the most. Why? I think it may not be that far better than Tokyo Story, Late Spring, or Early Summer but I think this is a director which the most films you see of him the more you appreciate his style, his vision, his storytelling, and his directing qualities.

The more japanese of japanese directors always been frown upon and snobbed for his two main contemporaries Akira Kurosawa and Kenji Mizoguchi. They were always the representants of Japan in Cannes and in the international festivals. Like many artists sadly, it's after his death he becma to be habilited into world Cinema and regarded as one of the main figures of his art. The stories depicted in his films are common and regular issues of normal japanese people, with contemporary stories, without swordsmen/samurais, without spectacular scenes or events, and during the little moments of our lives.

His style, with a low camera and few movements of it is very contemplative. He is, of the three main japanese directors of his period the closest to documentary style and natural life emotions.

In The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice one of his recurring theme is used to illustrate the main story of his film; food. When the husband illustrate to his wife how he sees life and happiness through simple food and he compares them together to green tea penetrating the rice to make a dish that he finds really good it makes the best scene of the film. Without being spectacular or too emotive it's a magical moment made by Ozu here. It's a simple story about simple people not too dramatic or comical but just the right touch to it to make it a comedy of manners signed Ozu. Visually it's a stunning film with few movements of camera that accentuate the scenes and the nice rythm of the film.

It's weird but also I think it's there, it has a touch of a feel good movie where at the end every piece falls into it's right place.

A filme review by Michaël Parent