Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club - Page 72

Brent Hutto · 07-22-2004, 07:24 AM

We watched Tokyo Story last night. For me the most interesting thing was seeing the master Ozu use techniques like the unmoving camera and pillow shots that I recognize from more recent movies whose direction and cinematography I've liked. The two surprising things about Tokyo Story were the average length of shots, shorter than I would have imagined, and the overall pace of the movie which seemed much shorter than its 136 minutes.

Aside from technical details, the story itself was quite interesting. On the one hand the details of daily life in postwar Japan were almost totally foreign to me. But at the same time the characters and at least the meaning of their conversations (even when the phrasing seemed stiff, formal and foreign) hit home for me in a way that very few movies set in current-day America ever have. It's one thing to talk about universal themes and plots that were old before Shakespeare used them but it's quite another to get the details just right so that the characters seem specifically universal (if that's not an oxymoron).

One final note. Although it doesn't show up on Great Movie lists one of the best films I've ever seen is the animated Spirited Away from a couple years ago. The scenes in Tokyo Story at the Atami Springs baths reminded me so much of the fantastic bath house that was the main setting in the Miyazaki movie. I'm not claiming that Ozu was a conscious influence in the later film since for all I know bath houses are a common theme in Japanese movies. It was just a cool bit of deja vu.

As a postscript I'll note that the constant flickering of the brightness in high-toned scenes on the Criterion DVD was quite annoying. I suppose it was a characteristic of the source print they had to work from but combined with the sometimes low-contrast subtitles it was enough to induce a mild headache afterwards.

Adam_S · 07-22-2004, 10:50 AM

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Although it doesn't show up on Great Movie lists one of the best films I've ever seen is the animated Spirited Away from a couple years ago.

Actually Spirited Away is on this list as well, it's one of the very few films of 2000-2 to make the list.

Brent Hutto · 07-22-2004, 12:13 PM

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Actually Spirited Away is on this list as well, it's one of the very few films of 2000-2 to make the list.

Well boy is my face red. Back when I first read the list I noticed it didn't have many recent films. Spirited Away is a worthy inclusion. Thanks for pointing it out.

Brook K · 07-22-2004, 01:54 PM

Brent, I saw a print of Tokyo Story a couple of years ago that was much worse than the DVD. The original negative no longer exists. But there was a better restoration ongoing at Tokyo University however, at the last minute either the funding was pulled and it couldn't be completed or that version was not allowed to be used on the DVD's. I believe the full story is at yasujiroozu.com

Anyway, glad you liked it so much. It is one of my very favorite films, devastatingly honest and extremely relatable to my life and worldview. I can't wait to see Early Summer but my order still hasn't arrived.

Adam, I believe most, including myself, think Part II is the better, more interesting film. It is much more filmically complex as you describe in your review, as well as containing pronounced criticisms of the Stalinist regime that aren't found in the first film. I think Lew and I have reviews and/or a discussion of it somewhere back in the depths of the thread.

I thought the Renoir box set came out this week but it didn't so I have She Wore A Yellow Ribbon on the way from Netflix. I also happened to be by that VHS rental store so I went ahead and got 1900, the last of the S&S movies they had that I hadn't seen. I'm planning on watching it tonight but I doubt I'll make it through all 260m in one sitting.

Brent Hutto · 07-22-2004, 03:14 PM

So would most people choose Early Summer as a second Ozu film after seeing Tokyo Story? Is it better than Floating Weeds? More accessible?

I see there's a character in Early Summer named Noriko played by Setsuko Hara. I assume it's the same actress as in Tokyo Story. Is it supposed to be the same character?

I thought the relationship between the grandmother and Noriko was the best part of Tokyo Story. Or in any case those were the two best acting performances in a movie that was well acted all around.

PS: I now note that Ryu is also in Early Summer playing a character named, of all things, Koichi. Sounds like Ozu had a regular little reperatory company.

Brook K · 07-22-2004, 04:16 PM

Yes, Ozu had "regulars" in his 30's films, as well as his late 40's-58 period. For his last 4 color films he mixed in a few different actors. Ryu was in all but 2-3 of Ozu's films from something like 34-60 and was usually the lead in the 40's and 50's, but he only has a one scene bit part in the Floating Weeds remake.

Particularly in his latter period, Ozu's films have similar subject matter, the inevitable fracturing of familial relationships brought on both by Japanese modernism and the universal process of aging. You'll notice that many of his films have similar names - Early Summer, Early Spring, Late Spring, Late Autumn, An Autumn Afternoon, etc. Just as in the 30's he did a series of "I ______, But...". Many people have heard of "I Was Born, But... however there was also "I Graduated, But..." "I Flunked, But..." and 3 or 4 others.

Anyway, he would use character names over and over too, but to my knowledge, the characters aren't meant to be related.

Pascal, who pops in for a visit now and then, could tell you much more about him than I could. I've really only scratched the surface of his work and haven't seen Early Summer so I can't tell you whether it would be a good one to see next or not. I think Jim, an avowed Ozu hater

has seen more of his films than I have. I've only seen the 4 that Criterion had previously released and Passing Fancy one of his silents from the early 30's. (Sound came later to Japan and even later for Ozu who didn't make a sound film until '35 or '36.)

Bill McA · 07-22-2004, 05:31 PM

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I also happened to be by that VHS rental store so I went ahead and got 1900, the last of the S&S movies they had that I hadn't seen. I'm planning on watching it tonight but I doubt I'll make it through all 260m in one sitting.

One of my favorite films, Brook...but you should know that the VHS is the edited R-rated US version.
The original Italian/International version is about an hour longer at 311 minutes.
At the moment, that version can only be viewed theatrically and on some cable broadcasts.

Lew Crippen · 07-22-2004, 08:57 PM

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The scenes in Tokyo Story at the Atami Springs baths reminded me so much of the fantastic bath house that was the main setting in the Miyazaki movie. I'm not claiming that Ozu was a conscious influence in the later film since for all I know bath houses are a common theme in Japanese movies. It was just a cool bit of deja vu.

While it might be a bit much to claim infulence here, there are few, if any Japanese filmmakers who are not influenced to some degree by Ozu.

Brent Hutto · 07-22-2004, 09:13 PM

I wouldn't doubt for a moment the Miyazaki considers Ozu an influence on his moviemaking. I just meant that I didn't think that Miyazaki thought "Hey, I ought to set my next movie in a bath house like the hot springs in Tokyo Story". Actually, in a lot of ways what I like most about Spirited Away and what I liked most about Tokyo Story are the elements that are most similar--the quiet moments and the carefully composed scenes.