Yasujirō Ozu was born in 1903, and made movies from the late 9teen-twenties up till his loss of life in 1963. Although not an especially lengthy life, it spanned Japan’s pre- and put upwarfare eras, implying that in some ways, it finished in a really different counattempt than it started. Not that you just’d understand it from Ozu’s movies, whose distinctive type and elegance should have modified much less by means of the a long time than these of any of his colleagues. For viewers solely casually acquainted together with his oeuvre, it’s simple to joke that when you’ve seen considered one of his pictures, you’ve seen all of them. However true Ozu enthusiasts, whose numbers have steadily grown all world wide for the reason that moviemaker’s loss of life, beneathstand that every part of his profession affords distinctive pleasures of its personal.
In actual fact, Ozu persisted by means of sweeping modifications in not simply world history, but in addition the history of cinema. His first 34 movies have been silent, the following 4teen have been sound in black-and-white, and his final six have been in color. It’s to the domestic master’s third act that Tony Zhou and Taylor Ramos have devoted their latest Every Frame a Painting video essay.
As with most moviemakers, it took Ozu a couple of years to make color his personal: in Equinox Flower, from 1958, “a few of the scenes are so brilliant that it seems like an MGM musical,” owing to his studio’s need to point outcase the actress Fujiko Yamamoto. And it’s not simply the hues of her kimono that dominate the photographs: so does the pink of Ozu’s signature teapot whenever it finds its means into the body.
Ozu’s subsequent color movie Good Morning makes use of a “far more natural, earth-toned color palette. The photographs really feel extra balanced, and there isn’t one visual element that stands proud from all of the others.” In his undertaking after that, Floating Weeds (itself a remake of his 1934 silent A Story of Floating Weeds), he labored with the acclaimed cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa, who’d additionally collaborated with the likes of Kurosawa and Mizoguchi. Utilizing sturdy mild and shadow, Miyagawa confirmed how, “by shaping the sunshine, he may change how colors have been perceived,” usually in different scenes framed in actually the identical means. At this level, anyone doing an Ozu binge-watch will really feel that color itself is being adapted to the rigorous objectivity of his work.
“His movies are stuffed with repetitions and small variations,” Zhou says. “He’ll present the identical corridormeans once more, and once more, and once more.” Appearingly minor elements in a single scene match visually with elements in others. “Because of this, Ozu’s motion pictures rhyme. One shot will mirror another, one person’s behavior will likely be repeated,” throughout not simply an individual picture, however his complete filmography. Watch by means of it, and “you’re struck by how similar two people may be, how usually one place resembles another, how life itself is cyclical, and Ozu used color as another method to construct these patterns.” Although subtly expressed, these themes would certainly have resonated with audiences in a society pressured to reinvent itself after losing the Second World Conflict. Whether or not Ozu suspected that they may draw much more attention from future generations removed from Japan is a question not even his diaries, now the subject of a documentary themselves, can reply.
Related content:
An Introduction to Yasujirō Ozu, “the Most Japanese of All Film Directors”
How One Simple Cut Reveals the Cinematic Genius of Yasujirō Ozu
The Golden Age of Japanese Cinema: Kurosawa, Ozu, Mizoguchi & Beyond
How Master Japanese Animator Satoshi Kon Pushed the Boundaries of Making Anime: A Video Essay
Primarily based in Seoul, Colin Marshall writes and broadcasts on cities, language, and culture. He’s the creator of the newsletter Books on Cities in addition to the books 한국 요약 금지 (No Summarizing Korea) and Korean Newtro. Follow him on the social internetwork formerly often known as Twitter at @colinmarshall.
