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39 Episodes
Yasujiro Ozu was Japanese cinema’s great poet of everyday life, and, 120 years after his birth, he remains one of the most significant film artists who ever lived. From the late 1920s to the early ’60s, Ozu explored the rhythms and tensions of a country trying to reconcile modern and traditional values, especially as played out in relations between the generations. Though he is best known for his 1953 masterpiece TOKYO STORY, Ozu began his career in the silent era in a looser mode, with comedies like I WAS BORN, BUT . . . and gangster movies like DRAGNET GIRL. He then gradually mastered the domestic drama during the war years and afterward, employing both humor, as in GOOD MORNING, and distilled drama, as in LATE SPRING, before the final blossoming of his art in such late color triumphs as AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON. With its instantly recognizable hallmarks—static shots, often from the vantage point of someone sitting low on a tatami mat; patient pacing; moments of transcendence represented by the isolated beauty of everyday objects—Ozu’s rigorous style has influenced filmmakers as various as Wim Wenders, Jim Jarmusch, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Claire Denis, and Paul Schrader.
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39 Episodes
- 46:02
In Search of Ozu
Episode 1
In Search of Ozu
Episode 1
In this original documentary, filmmaker Daniel Raim explores Yasujiro Ozu’s late work through the objects that were important to him and the people who knew him best.
- 11:55
I Graduated, But . . .
Episode 2
I Graduated, But . . .
Episode 2
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1929 • Japan
An unemployed college graduate attempts to trick his family into thinking that he has a job. This fragment, presented without a score, is from a film whose full version has been lost.
- 14:13
A Straightforward Boy
Episode 3
A Straightforward Boy
Episode 3
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1929 • Japan
A kidnapped boy proves to be more than his abductor can handle in this fragment, presented without a score, from a film whose full version has been lost.
- 1:04:46
I Flunked, But . . .
Episode 4
I Flunked, But . . .
Episode 4
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1930 • Japan
Starring Tatsuo Saito, Kinuyo Tanaka, Chishu RyuAfter the plans of a college student (Tatsuo Saito) to cheat on his final exams by scribbling notes on his shirt go awry, he is left to reassess his life and education and get back on track. Featuring legend...
- 1:05:51
That Night’s Wife
Episode 5
That Night’s Wife
Episode 5
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1930 • Japan
In noirish darkness, a man commits a shocking robbery. But, as we soon learn, this seeming criminal mastermind is actually a sensitive everyman driven to desperation by the need to provide for his family. Unfolding over the course of one night, Yasujiro Oz...
- 1:36:03
Walk Cheerfully
Episode 6
Walk Cheerfully
Episode 6
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1930 • Japan
In Yasujiro Ozu's WALK CHEERFULLY, which gracefully combines elements of the relationship drama and the gangster story, small-time hood Kenji, a.k.a. Ken the Knife, wants to go straight for good girl Yasue but finds that starting over isn't as simple as ...
- 1:14:49
The Lady and the Beard
Episode 7
The Lady and the Beard
Episode 7
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1931 • Japan
Starring Tokihiko Okada, Hiroko Kawasaki, Choko IidaProminently bearded, resolutely old-fashioned kendo champion Okajima (Tokihiko Okada) struggles to find a job thanks to his peculiar, conservative ways, which inevitably alienate his more progressive pee...
- 1:30:33
Tokyo Chorus
Episode 8
Tokyo Chorus
Episode 8
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1931 • Japan
Combining three prevalent genres of the day, the student comedy, the salaryman film, and the domestic drama, Ozu created this warmhearted family comedy, and demonstrated that he was truly coming into his own as a cinema craftsman. The setup is simple: Low ...
- 1:30:36
I Was Born, But . . .
Episode 9
I Was Born, But . . .
Episode 9
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1932 • Japan
One of Ozu's most popular films, I WAS BORN, BUT . . . is a blithe portrait of the financial and psychological toils of one family, as told from the rascally point of view of a couple of stubborn little boys. For two brothers, the daily struggles of bullie...
- 1:25:36
Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth?
Episode 10
Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth?
Episode 10
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1932 • Japan
Starring Ureo Egawa, Kinuyo Tanaka, Tatsuo SaitoIn the late 1920s and early 1930s, Yasujiro Ozu made a string of comedies dealing with student life, the last of which, WHERE NOW ARE THE DREAMS OF YOUTH?, finds the director exploring increasingly complex t...
- 1:40:10
Dragnet Girl
Episode 11
Dragnet Girl
Episode 11
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1933 • Japan
This formally accomplished and psychologically complex gangster tale pivots on the growing attraction between Joji, a hardened career criminal, and Kazuko, the sweet-natured older sister of a newly initiated young hoodlum, a relationship that provokes the ...
- 1:40:22
Passing Fancy
Episode 12
Passing Fancy
Episode 12
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1933 • Japan
The first of many films featuring the endearing single-dad Kihachi (played wonderfully by Takeshi Sakamoto), PASSING FANCY is a humorous and heartfelt study of a close, if fraught, father-son relationship. With an ever more sophisticated visual style and u...
- 46:49
Woman of Tokyo
Episode 13
Woman of Tokyo
Episode 13
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1933 • Japan
Starring Yoshiko Okada, Ureo Egawa, Kinuyo TanakaIn this powerful, compassionate melodrama, Chikako (Yoshiko Okada) works by day as a typist to help put her brother Ryoichi (Ureo Egawa) through school. What he doesn’t know is that by night she also works ...
- 1:13:31
A Mother Should Be Loved
Episode 14
A Mother Should Be Loved
Episode 14
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1934 • Japan
Starring Mitsuko Yoshikawa, Yukichi Iwata, Den OhinataDespite its missing first and last reels, this sensitive domestic drama remains a key work in the refinement of director Yasujiro Ozu’s style in its intimate focus on family dynamics. Following the dea...
- 1:26:27
A Story of Floating Weeds
Episode 15
A Story of Floating Weeds
Episode 15
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1934 • Japan
Starring Takeshi Sakamoto, Choko Iida, Koji (Hideo) MitsuiIn 1959, Yasujiro Ozu remade his 1934 silent classic A STORY OF FLOATING WEEDS in color with the celebrated cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa (RASHOMON, UGETSU). Setting his later version in a seaside...
- 1:20:41
An Inn in Tokyo
Episode 16
An Inn in Tokyo
Episode 16
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1935 • Japan
The final still-extant silent film directed by Yasujiro Ozu is an exquisitely tender portrait of everyday survival in 1930s Japan. Anticipating the neorealist poetry of BICYCLE THIEVES, AN INN IN TOKYO follows unemployed ne’er-do-well Kihachi (Takeshi Saka...
- 1:22:48
The Only Son
Episode 17
The Only Son
Episode 17
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1936 • Japan
Starring Choko Iida, Shinichi Himori, Masao HayamaYasujiro Ozu’s first talkie, the uncommonly poignant THE ONLY SON is among the Japanese director’s greatest works. In its simple story about a good-natured mother who gives up everything to ensure her son’...
- 1:11:43
What Did the Lady Forget?
Episode 18
What Did the Lady Forget?
Episode 18
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1937 • Japan
Starring Michiko Kuwano, Tatsuo Saito, Sumiko KurishimaYasujiro Ozu puts a witty spin on his recurring theme of generational clash in this sophisticated comedy, which bears the unmistakable influence of Ernst Lubitsch. When modern, liberated Setsuko (Mich...
- 1:44:59
Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family
Episode 19
Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family
Episode 19
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1941 • Japan
Starring Mieko Takamine, Shin Saburi, Hideo FujinoFollowing a three-year break from filmmaking while he completed military service, Yasujiro Ozu returned to directing with this pointed family drama which in many ways anticipates the themes he would explor...
- 1:27:12
There Was a Father
Episode 20
There Was a Father
Episode 20
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1942 • Japan
Starring Chishu Ryu, Haruhiko Tsugawa, Shuji SanoYasujiro Ozu’s frequent leading man Chishu Ryu is riveting as Shuhei, a widowed high school teacher who finds that the more he tries to do what is best for his son’s future, the more they are separated. Tho...
- 1:11:57
Record of a Tenement Gentleman
Episode 21
Record of a Tenement Gentleman
Episode 21
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1947 • Japan
Starring Choko Iida, Hohi Aoki, Eitaro OzawaYasujiro Ozu’s first post–World War II film takes place in an impoverished Tokyo neighborhood that has been partly destroyed in bombing raids. Here, a hard-hearted middle-aged widow (Choko Iida) reluctantly take...
- 1:23:53
A Hen in the Wind
Episode 22
A Hen in the Wind
Episode 22
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1948 • Japan
Starring Kinuyo Tanaka, Shuji Sano, Chieko MurataPerhaps Yasujiro Ozu’s darkest film, this devastating account of Japan’s wartime realities follows the struggles of Tokiko (Kinuyo Tanaka), a mother who is forced to turn to sex work in order to pay off her...
- 1:48:17
Late Spring
Episode 23
Late Spring
Episode 23
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1949 • Japan
Starring Chishu Ryu, Setsuko Hara, Yumeji TsukiokaOne of the most powerful of Yasujiro Ozu’s family portraits, LATE SPRING (BANSHUN) tells the story of a widowed father who feels compelled to marry off his beloved only daughter. Eminent Ozu players Chishu...
- 1:52:30
The Munekata Sisters
Episode 24
The Munekata Sisters
Episode 24
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1950 •Japan
Starring Kinuyo Tanaka, Hideko Takamine, Ken UeharaJapanese golden-age greats Kinuyo Tanaka and Hideko Takamine star in this rich melodrama centered on two sisters: the reserved, traditional Setsuko (Tanaka), unhappily married to an alcoholic wastrel, and...
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