What is it about Ozu? The disciplined economy of his stories, dialogue and images accounts for some of it. But he also delivers something less obvious. “Just as there are no heroes in Ozu’s pictures,” writes Richie, “so there are no villians. In basic Zen texts one accepts and transcends the world, and in traditional Japanese narrative art one celebrates and relinquishes it. The aesthetic term mono no aware is often used nowadays to describe this state of mind.” And, whether in those words or not, Ozu’s followers savor the expression of mono no aware in his many films, such as An Autumn Afternoon, Tokyo Story, Late Spring, and Good Morning. This sort of thing being better experienced than described, why not watch Ozu’s 1952 picture The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice just above? (Or 1941’s The Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family, 1948’s A Hen in the Wind, 1950’s The Murekata Sisters?) To my mind, nothing sums up Ozu’s appeal quite so well as his use of “pillow shots” — simple, static compositions placed in his films for purely rhythmic, non-narrative purposes.
bye.
