![]() ![]() His visual strategy is as simple (therefore as profound) as possible. He likes trains, clouds, smoke, clothes hanging on a line, empty streets, small architectural details, banners blowing in the wind (he painted most of the banners in his movies himself). Ozu uses "pillow shots" like the pillow words in Japanese poetry, separating his scenes with brief, evocative images from everyday life. If we know Ozu, we know the boat will not figure in the plot, that the music will never be used to underline or comment on the emotions, that the neighborhood may be the one where the story takes place, but it doesn't matter. There are exterior shots of a neighborhood. "Tokyo Story" opens with the distant putt-putt of a ship's engine, and bittersweet music evokes a radio heard long ago and far away. With no other director do I feel affection for every single shot. Ozu is not only a great director but a great teacher, and after you know his films, a friend. Given the opportunity at a family gathering to share our hopes and disappointments, we talk about the weather and watch TV. We escape into truisms, small talk and distractions. It's that we have arranged them to protect us from having to deal with big questions of love, work and death. It isn't that our lives keep us too busy for our families. It was made 50 years ago in Japan, by a man who was born 100 years ago this year, and it is about our families, our natures, our flaws and our clumsy search for love and meaning. It does this with characters so universal that we recognize them instantly - sometimes in the mirror. It says, yes, a movie can help us make small steps against our imperfections. It does this so well that I am near tears in the last 30 minutes. ![]() It doesn't want to force our emotions, but to share its understanding. "Tokyo Story" (1953) lacks sentimental triggers and contrived emotion it looks away from moments a lesser movie would have exploited. From these few elements Yasujiro Ozu made one of the greatest films of all time. ![]()
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