Winter 2009, Sunday Series • Yasujiro Ozu

The Japanese master’s pre–war masterpieces.

The Japanese Auteur Yasujiro Ozu (1903–1963) was and remains to this day one of the finest masters of the cinema. Born in Tokyo, Ozu studied at a boarding school but found greater interest at the local movie theater. The films of great American directors, especially John Ford, moved Ozu during his youth. By the late 1920’s, Ozu had found his calling: to become a film director. He was initially a cameraman, but ultimately made his first film as a director, The Sword of Penitence, in 1927. Ozu’s first films were mostly comedies,but he eventually moved towards more serious themes that defined the rest of his career: the inevitability of the passing of time, the dynamic relationships between family members, etc. Although his most well known films ended up being his post–war masterpieces such as Tokyo Story, Late Spring, and Early Summer, Ozu’s pre–war films are hidden gems waiting to be rediscovered. The films in this series are among his finest and most intriguing. more

This series is co-sponsored by the University of Chicago Center for East Asian Studies, Committee on Japanese Studies. The first 8 shows are silent, with live accompaniment.

Sunday, January 11 • 7:00 PM • 100min
Walk Cheerfully
Yasujiro Ozu, 1930 • Showing the greater diversity of genre in Ozu’s early works than in his later domestic dramas, Walk Cheerfully tells of petty thief Kenji, who falls for an honest woman and decides to give up a life of crime. His girlfriend (playing the femme fatale) tries to win him back, but does not succeed. The film draws its inspirations from Hollywood silent films of a variety of genres, including film noir, drama and romance. Cinematically, this film differs from most of Ozu’s later work in its fast paced action, moving camera work and rapid editing. But we do see traces of the “traditional Ozu,” including his famous tatami shot. 35mm - not available on DVD. Silent with piano accompaniment by David Drazin.

Sunday, January 18 • 7:00 PM • 105min
I Flunked But… & I Graduated But… (fragment)
Yasujiro Ozu, 1929–30 • I Flunked, But… deals with the comic attempts of a college student to pass a rigorous exam. He writes a cheat sheet on his shirt, only to find that his landlady has sent the garment out to be laundered! Failing, he has to adjust to being the only student who will not graduate, and must postpone his professional life, but ironically he realizes that he is better off being a student since his friends are unable to find jobs. The film was important to Ozu, as it was the first to feature his favorite actor Chishu Ryu in a major role. Shown with I Graduated, But…, an 11m fragment. 35mm - not available on DVD.

Sunday, January 25 • 7:00 PM • 97min
The Lady and the Beard
Yasujiro Ozu, 1931 • Shot in just eight days, The Lady and the Beard is Ozu’s critical comment on the stereotypical view of ancient Japan juxtaposed with a modern westernized version. The protagonist, a Kendo champion who takes pride in his traditional attire and beard, rescues a young woman from a gang run by a woman thug. She convinces him to shave off the beard to get employment and become more socially acceptable. Unfortunately for him, he becomes the object of affection for three women: the lady, the thug, and an heiress, creating a series of humorous misunderstandings. 35mm - not available on DVD. Live piano accompaniment with Daniel Sefik.

Sunday, February 1 • 7:00 PM • 112min
The Night’s Wife & Woman of Tokyo
Yasujiro Ozu, 1930–33 • A tense thriller based on a popular Japanese short story “From Nine to Nine,” That Night’s Wife tells the story of a poor artist forced to steal money to pay for medicine for his very ill daughter. It’s shot in a small flat, emphasizing the suspense–filled, strained atmosphere and evoking early Lang and Dreyer. Melodramatic yet powerful, Women of Tokyo has shades of Mizoguchi, and has been acclaimed for its “subtle riot of discordant formal devices… and breathtaking wrench of perspective, from individual tragedy to matter-of-fact social breakdown.” 35mm - not available on DVD.

Sunday, February 8 • 7:00 PM • 91m
I Was Born But…
Yasujiro Ozu, 1932 • “I Was Born, But…” was one of Ozu’s hit films, winning the Kinema Jumpo poll as best Japanese film of the year and proclaimed by film critic Donald Ritchie to be a ““masterpiece”. Two boys move with their authoritative father to his boss’ neighborhood and fall prey to bullies, eventually becoming bullies themselves. During a film screening at the boss’ house, they see their father acting like a joker to please his boss. This disillusionment leads to a quarrel and a hunger strike! The film moves from the idealized “child world” to the often hypocritical world of the adult and the shattering of illusions as that transformation occurs. 35mm

Sunday, February 15 • 7:00 PM • 90min
Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth?
Yasujiro Ozu, 1932 • Set in depression’era Tokyo, Where now are the Dreams of Youth? revisits the split between childhood fantasies and adult realities through the lives of four college friends. Saito, a wealthy young adult who’s had an easy life, takes over his father’s position as head of the business. His friends come to him seeking employment. They are willing to do anything he asks; one of them even looks the other way when he casts his eye on his fiancé. Ozu’s commentary on social inequality shows how its effects inflict lasting damage even in the strongest of friendships. 35mm - not available on DVD.

Sunday, February 22 • 7:00 PM • 100min
Dragnet Girl
Yasujiro Ozu, 1933 • Set in the vice–ridden port city of Yokohama, Dragnet Girl brings Ozu’s love of the Hollywood gangster film to the forefront. Tokiko leads a double life: an office typist by day and a gangster’s moll by night. She does all she can to keep her lover’s eye from straying to the innocent sister of one of his protégés. Despite movement away from his typical subject matter, Ozu’s trademark stylistic conventions remain definitive and affective in Dragnet Girl. This may not be his most complex work, but it provides a rare glimpse of his roots, while his use of visual motifs presages the master he is to become. 35mm - not available on DVD.

Sunday, March 1 • 7:00 PM • 80min
An Inn in Tokyo
Yasujiro Ozu, 1935 • Perhaps the greatest silent Ozu ever made, An Inn in Tokyo recounts the struggles of a poor widower and his sons as he searches for work in depression– era Japan. Kihachi lives in the Manseikan Inn with others like him, amongst them a widow and her daughter. Things begin to look up when a friend helps him get a job, but the widow’s daughter falls ill. In desperation, he steals money to help her out before turning himself in. In a powerful scene, the father has an imaginary picnic with his hungry sons. The film captures the essence of the human struggle for survival in the bleakest of circumstances. 35mm - not available on DVD.

Sunday, March 8 • 7:00 PM • 103min
The Only Son
Yazujiro Ozu, 1936 • This was Ozu’s first talkie film, yet facets of Ozu’s silent movie style remain. The Only Son is an incredibly moving film illustrating the inevitable disappointments that life brings and man’s acceptance of this reality. A widow sells her land and works in a silk factory to pay for her only son’s education in Tokyo. Many years later, she visits him with the hope that he is a successful individual, instead finding him living in a tenement with a wife and child. Though she is sad she holds back her feelings, tells him that she is proud of him, and finally returns to her village. 35mm - not available on DVD.