• This Ozu study has helped but i think mainly I’m just a better critic than i was in the past (if i do say so myself). I do think the critical community is partly to blame though for me missing this (and Ozu) for so long. Quit applauding his humanism and restraint and subtlety and start talking about how, from a visual mise-en-scene standpoint– this is one of the most beautiful movies ever made. I’m not even saying those other things aren’t true- but it’s not why this is considered a top 10 of all-time film by so many
  • The Kôgo Noda (like time collaborator on the writing with Ozu) screenplay is the best by the pair to date
  • The film, and the style, is a high-water point (to date in my study) for Ozu but it’s more of the same- it’s not a departure by any stretch from his previous films. There are actually a number of shots that mirror his shots in previous films (including that shot of Ryu meditating alone in the finale). Though, where another film of his is filled with 10-25 of these gorgeous mise-en-scene shots and setups… this one has 50-100. It’s impossible to keep count unless that’s all you want to do
  • Starts with an establishing shot (smoke stacks), an alley with bottles, a train, a train with laundry and then a layered interior with actors (a family unit) spread out and stacked so carefully- it’s gorgeous
  • There’s ordinariness in the narrative—even banality– as Ozu is after man of the same things De Sica and Rossellini were interested in in Neo-Realism
  • It’s a candidate for the greatest mise-en-scene in film history. Gorgeously arranged sets and shots
  • Ozu has a way of funneling the frame so to speak- he has objects and walls that not only take up all the white space (teapots, clocks, slippers, flowers, bicycles laundry, lighting those shoji doors) but directs your eyes by creating frames within a frame, division and blocking of the mise-en-scene a la Von Sternberg (though this dwarfs anything Von Sternberg ever accomplished as much as I love him)
  • 4-5 times with the smoke stack pillow shot… I love the cloud one to signify day change on Ryu
  • There’s another quick montage of the wife moving through the empty house in her daily routine- to the trained eye it’s like Ozu showing off with the interiors. Gorgeous.
  • It’s a major triumph for Ryu- a stunning performance- his unspoken frustration at the loud music at the spa is great acting—Hara’s achievement is a little less but that’s no insult- she plays a damn saint- such a great character (and actress)
  • The line writing is sublime” By the time you become a doctor I won’t if I’ll still be here” is haunting
  • At Hara’s friend’s apartment there’s a baby in this bubble thing that, again, is just Ozu showing off with his blocking and framing- it’s so awesome
  • The spouses of the children (including the widowed daughter in law Hara) are so much more considerate—at best you could say they’re preoccupied and the grandchildren come off as bratty
  • Extremely rich character depth- Haruko Sugimura is a bit of a monster- she denies those are her parents at the salon at one point to a customer—but she’s also clearly has bad memories of her father’s drinking
  • Awe-inspiring shot of the two elderly characters laying down at the spa, the lamp, the tea, the two heads—clearly an influence on Bergman—the staging of the mourners at the funeral
  • The final shot and composition of Ryu, alone, thinking, mirrors the uncle smoking the pipe in Early Summer – It’s another staggeringly beautiful shot
  • Masterpiece