Ozu: His Life and Films

Yasujiro Ozu, that most Japanese of all Japanese directors, gets his biography done up much like his films: deceptively simple with a straightforward view to detail. Written by a man who knows Japan and Japanese film better than most, Donald Richie, much insight is gained with regard to the intricacies of how Ozu works and, more importantly, why. Also recommended highly is the lavish coffee table edition of Richies' The Films of Akira Kurosawa.

Donald Richie, for those who may not know him, is a very accomplished American who has spent most of his life in Japan, writing about various cultural topics such as Japanese Cinema, literature, society, music, etc. This is one of his greatest books. His insight into Ozu Yasujiro's films is profound and detailed. It is a fantastic assessment of the craft of art, the absolute mastery of what any artistic medium must ultimately demonstrate. I am a composer of contemporary classical music (an obvious oxymoron), and I could substitute the word "music" for "film" in this marvelous book and it would fit well.I highly recommend it for lovers of Ozu or Japanese cinema in general. It is a work which would enlighten any student of the "time" arts (film, dance, drama, music and perhaps novels).

Recently I have been in the process of making my own movies that I write. One can do no better than to study the life and technique of Ozu who directed a string of films that have through the years become classics.

Too bad many of the films reviewed in this book are no longer available. Ozu's my favorite director.

I am a fan of Donald Richie and, of course, a big fan of Ozu. But this book was a bit of a disappointment because it does not follow a biographical/chronicle narrative and instead simply dissects various Ozu films and Ozu's style as Richie sees fit, in an almost haphazard manner I would add. It reads like literary criticism in parts whereas I had been expecting a more biographical book. I found the most valuable and insightful part of the book to be the end where Richie does offer a very good chronological listing of all of Ozu's films along with his criticism, which certainly has merit. Had this been his approach to the entire book, it would have been a better book In short, if you are a big Ozu fan, like me, you will find material here that is useful ( I did) but if you are simply seeking a biography of Ozu you would do better to watch the 2 hr bio of him which is on the Criterion edition of Tokyo Story.

Any serious student of film and any fan of good movies should have this book. Ozu can make what seem like simple stories reach majestic heights.

The best book about Ozu's films, a must have if you are a fan

Well there doesn't seem to be much info about this book here so for those of you who are wondering what s going on, I'll list the table of contents.1 - Introduction18 - Script105 - Shooting159 - Editing186 - Conclusion193 - Bibliographical filmography (to 253)Those of you who are familiar with Richie's other stuff such as the Inland Sea will be happy to hear that in this book he combines his critical and writing gifts with a fairly pragmatic approach to his task.Don't be overly wary of ramblings about transcendental this and that - certainly such notions do rear up but only in the context of technical discussion - e.g. in a discussion of the cut away shots to the vase at a crucial moment in Late Spring. Which isn't to say that Richie doesn't consider the social & moral aspects of Ozu's work at some length. This is obviously necessary for such a morally concerned artist as Ozu, and such topics highlight Richie's greatest strengths as a writer.This book includes numerous excerpts and stills from production materials, shot sequences etc, which are mostly interesting and relevant; in fact if I had a criticism, I wouldn't mind a few more explicit examples (and counter examples from the work of other directors) especially in the discussion of composition. The Biographical Filmography section briefly covers all his films, mixed in with a fairly straightforward biography. Also recommended on the biographical front would be the docos included on the Criterion DVDs. Especially, "I lived, but..." which comes with the 2DVD Tokyo Story set .In other words, for the English speaking reader, it would be hard to imagine a better match between subject and author. Highly recommended for any Ozu fans.The back cover shows a youthful, exuberant Richie animatedly chatting with Ozu during the filming of Late Autumn in 1960. Ozu sits quietly, holding a cigarette...

A Masterpiece!

Screenplay drafts, rough sketches, and images from the film are all included. Love, love, love this book.

It arrived in perfect shape.

On peut aimer le cinéma des films japonais d'Ozu comme on peut aimer le théâtre de Molière ou les romans de Balzac dans la tradition littéraire française. Les belles histoires racontées par Ozu procèdent des mêmes valeurs universelles que l'on peut retrouver chez Molière ou chez Balzac: des situations de déroulement de la vie humaine dans son caractère reconnu et éternel au travers de la famille japonaise, au travers de personnages sensibles, courageux et beaux ou laids - des images et des sonorités musicales empreintes d'une recherche accomplie dans la beauté de l'art du cinéma - et cependant une actualité vraie de la vie du Japon après la terrible épreuve de la IIème Guerre Mondiale!Donald Richie a pu posséder cette faculté exceptionnelle de s'approprier, et ces valeurs japonaises, et les valeurs humaines de sa culture occidentale: voilà pourquoi son livre est remarquable de richesses transmises sans filtre ni déformation dues éventuellement à une doctrine d'analyse académique personnelle déformante, comme cela est le cas pour tous les bonus français produits hâtivement par les professeurs et traductrice de cinéma! Ces bonus se veulent très " Professeur-expert", et sont contre productifs, car ils ne font pas aimer le cinéma d'Ozu. Au contraire, Donald Richie à travers son livre peut faire aimer et respecter le cinéma d'Ozu (Comme le fait si bien Wim Wanders). Mac-Ardèche

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