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wmbogart's review
Rather than basing his analysis on what <i>isn’t</i> present in Ozu (camera movement, eyeline matches, fluid scores etc), Hasumi focuses on what <i>is</i> present in his filmography. This differs from the negative rhetoric applied by Bordwell, Schrader, and other American theorists and writers.
The book convincingly outlines a few recurring elements in Ozu’s films, and analyzes how they function in his body of work. These can be gestures in the narrative or techniques in the shooting and editing of the film. A few highlights: the sharing of meals and the removal of clothes. Group photographs linked to a ritual of separation or death. Communal laughter as a signifier (and as a segue in or our of scenes). The intimacy of two characters gazing into the distance rather than looking at one another directly.
Counterexamples to these “systems” are abundant, as the book calls out. But I think the analysis is interesting and worth considering. It certainly complicates some long-standing (and reductive) readings of Ozu.
In a few cases, Hasumi seems to fall back into a negative rhetoric himself. For example, he highlights that Ozu frequently does not show us the exterior view of a character looking out a window. The book also calls out the absence of shots of connective stairs between floors, barring a few notable examples. Hasumi believes that this allow for a kind of suspended planar relationship between floors and spaces that might be lost otherwise. This fits a larger rhetoric of ellipsis that you could read in Ozu, but I'm not entirely sold on it. Likewise with the section on the supposed unreality of uniform crowd movement in his films. Not sure I agree!
A disclaimer - the book is only appropriate for those that are deeply familiar with Ozu’s filmography. There are references described as "obvious" in the text that would likely go over the head of anyone that hasn’t spent a great deal of time with his films. But for those that have, it's well worth reading.
The book convincingly outlines a few recurring elements in Ozu’s films, and analyzes how they function in his body of work. These can be gestures in the narrative or techniques in the shooting and editing of the film. A few highlights: the sharing of meals and the removal of clothes. Group photographs linked to a ritual of separation or death. Communal laughter as a signifier (and as a segue in or our of scenes). The intimacy of two characters gazing into the distance rather than looking at one another directly.
Counterexamples to these “systems” are abundant, as the book calls out. But I think the analysis is interesting and worth considering. It certainly complicates some long-standing (and reductive) readings of Ozu.
In a few cases, Hasumi seems to fall back into a negative rhetoric himself. For example, he highlights that Ozu frequently does not show us the exterior view of a character looking out a window. The book also calls out the absence of shots of connective stairs between floors, barring a few notable examples. Hasumi believes that this allow for a kind of suspended planar relationship between floors and spaces that might be lost otherwise. This fits a larger rhetoric of ellipsis that you could read in Ozu, but I'm not entirely sold on it. Likewise with the section on the supposed unreality of uniform crowd movement in his films. Not sure I agree!
A disclaimer - the book is only appropriate for those that are deeply familiar with Ozu’s filmography. There are references described as "obvious" in the text that would likely go over the head of anyone that hasn’t spent a great deal of time with his films. But for those that have, it's well worth reading.
cvall96's review
5.0
I haven't been this excited by a text on film since reading Manny Farber at 18. Brilliant, clear, delicate stuff.
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