Ozu4 by Lewis Saul

*41. Kaze no naka no mendori (A Hen in the Wind) (9/20/48) (90 min.) [Sound B&W] [buy it here]

A destitute woman is awaiting the demobilization of her husband when her child falls ill. She prostitutes herself to pay the hospital. When her husband returns, she tells all. He knocks her down the stairs but later apologizes, suddenly realizing all she has been through.

• The DVD is all-region.
• Kinuyo Tanaka is excellent as the wife.
• Once again, we have the sick child and the wife freaking out because there is no money for the hospital bill. (Health care debate, anyone?)
• The melodrama reaches a boiling point. The screen time between his pushing her down the stairs and the end where all is forgiven and they embrace is just a few short minutes.
• However, if we contemplate the situation deeply, we might come to the conclusion that this man -- who probably committed, or at least witnessed, some pretty terrible atrocities himself in recent years -- has realized that his wife's transgression is petty in comparison -- even honorable!
• The print is in excellent shape.

*42. Banshun (Late Spring) (9/1949) (108 min.) [Sound B&W) [buy it here]

A young woman, somewhat past the usual marriage age, lives with her father in Kamakura. She is happy with him, and when she hears of one of his friends remarrying, she disapproves. The father, however, feels that he is keeping her from marriage. She refuses several offers. Then her aunt tells her that her father is thinking of remarrying. She is disturbed, but believing that this is what he wants, she agrees to get married herself. Father and daughter go on a final trip together to Kyoto. When they return, she is married. The father, who had no intention of remarrying, is left alone.

• This Criterion release is a 2-disc set, which includes an excellent booklet with two essays; audio commentary by Richard Peña, program director of New York's Film Society of Lincoln Center; and -- best of all -- Wim Wender's tribute to Ozu: Tokyo-Ga (1985).
• One of a half-dozen or so Ozu films universally considered a masterpiece.
• I cannot find any real information about how Ozu and Setsuko Hara actually met, but there can be no doubt that he saw her work prior to 1949 -- including her star turn (one of the very few "female" pics) for Kurosawa in 1946 in No Regrets for Our Youth.
• Just as we had a "Kihachi" trilogy, this film is the first of the "Noriko" trilogy.
• This is the only film not to use the burlap weave background behind the credits since A Story of Floating Weeds. Instead, we have what looks like an aerial view of dried, cracked mud...

Ozu begins the film with four extraordinarily beautiful pillow shots:

1. [11 sec] Sign in Japanese and English: "Kitakamakura Station." We hear the ticking of a telegraph and a bell sounds...
2. [6 sec] Railroad tracks, fence, trees and sky in background...
3. [6 sec] Unlit signal light framed between two poles; lush trees in background...
4. [7 sec] Roof of large house...

The leisurely music begins in Cut 2; birds chirping.

• Something so relaxing in this pacing.
• The camera is at one end of a hallway, facing five women in kimonos, seated in an L-shape. Another woman enters -- her back to the camera -- and kneels, bows to the other women, who return her bow with a deep unison group bow...
• Reverse angle and we get our first Ozu shot of the beautiful Setsuko Hara.
• She sits down next to her aunt, another Ozu newcomer, who will also become a "regular" in the final films: the amazing Haruko Sugimura. (Kurosawa gave her a wicked role in his 1965 masterpiece Red Beard, where she plays the abusive whorehouse madame.)
• They converse, another woman, Akiko (the gorgeous Kuniko Miyake) enters, same bowing, and then
• Ozu cuts to three more pillow shots: stone steps, flowers and the teahouse. Then back to the women. The pacing is magical...
• The tea ceremony is quite beautiful.

Transition: CU of Akiko; ext: square stone block with hole in middle; woodsy hillside...

Cut to interior: Shuichi Hattori (Jun Usami) and Shukichi Somiya (Chishu Ryu), working at a desk.

They are sorting out the confusion in the spelling of Friedrich List, as opposed to Franz Liszt. Hattori reads out the dates -- "1811 to 1886." He is referring to Liszt, rather than List, who was born in 1789 and died in 1846.

The doorbell is heard for the first time as the electric company meter reader makes a visit. We will hear this iconic sound throughout the film...

As Noriko prepares to enter the home, all we know is that her father is working on a manuscript that was "due yesterday." In this scene -- lasting less than two minutes -- we don't learn much more, except that Noriko holds a certain power over her father (he wants to play mahjong; she won't let him until he finishes his work) and that they are very comfortable with one another (he pretends to be angry, gruffly orders her to make the tea, she laughs) ...

• Richie writes extensively about the train ride, a marvel of shooting and editing (pp. 165-66).
• Noriko runs into Onodera (Masao Mishima, fine veteran actor) and they have an important conversation at the restaurant/bar, Takigawa.
  • Notice how Ozu is now using the direct frontal shot for just about all one-character close-ups and the exchanges between two characters now almost always takes place in this manner, with Ozu alternating the head-on shots. It is certainly something which becomes quite identifiably Ozu-ian...
• Something is particularly striking about this scene: Noriko and Onodera seem to have an easy-going relationship -- she is discussing something very personal with him and has expressed in no uncertain terms that she finds his remarriage distasteful -- she does it all with that cute shy smile, but she means every word she says.
• In the next scene, Shukichi is calmly smoking and drinking at his little desk when Noriko comes home with her guest, Onodera.
• It is fascinating to explore Ozu's interaction with SCAP in this occupation-era film. Kyoko Hirano's fascinating book, Mr. Smith Goes to Tokyo, sheds much light on a line from this scene:
  • Noriko is going to warm up some sake. As she leaves, her father asks: "How was your blood count?"
  • "Down to 15."
  • "Really? That's good."
  • Onodera: "She's looking much healthier." CU: "It was forced labor during the war that made her ill."
• The original line was "It was due to her work after being conscripted by the navy during the war."
  • Hirano: "The American censors allowed no sympathetic, indeed no noncondemnatory, mention of Japanese militarism. It may be argued that [the censors] were unreasonably meticulous on this point ... it is difficult to understand what the danger might have been in specifying that the work was done for the Navy" (p. 49).
• There are three other examples of SCAP fiddling with this magnificent script -- I'll mention them when they occur.
• How far Ozu has come with the manner in which he makes a scene humorous:
  • Onodera: "Are you close to the sea here?"
  • Shukichi: "A 15-minute walk."
  • "That's rather far. Is it on this side?" (pointing over his shoulder)
  • "No. That side." (motioning with his head)
  • "And the shrine is over this way, right? (pointing)
  • Ozu pulls the camera back. "No, that way." (Shukichi pointing)
  • "Which way is Tokyo?"
  • "That way."
  • "So east is this direction?"
  • "No, that direction."
  • "Has it always been that way?"
  • "Absolutely." (Watch Ryu's face here -- wonderful amused reaction.)
  • Onodera: "No wonder Yoritomo moved his shogunate here. The enemy couldn't find its way around!"
• Transition shot: the sea, waves rolling in...
• Music: a cadence; then a jaunty new theme, beeped out by a trumpet. And the camera is moving! An unusual, long outdoor dolly running parallel to the sea.
• CU, first Noriko, then Shuichi, riding bicycles (These close-ups are studio shots with process), then he cuts to a wide-angle shot of the two of them, riding down the road (location)...
• More close-ups, then a reverse two-shot from the front.
• The next shot is extremely wide, showing the expanse of countryside.
• Road sign entirely in English.
• 0:23:01: The iconic Coca-Cola sign!
• Noriko's father and aunt discuss the possibility of Hattori as a match. In the next scene, father returns home and as they eat dinner together, learns that Hattori is already engaged to someone else. The interesting thing about this scene is not so much the information we are given, but how we see Noriko taking care of her father -- picking up his clothes, making his dinner -- and it is all shown so naturally that you really hardly notice. But this is important, of course.
• Perhaps Hattori is not so certain of his engagement after all. He has coffee with Noriko and has tickets to hear the violinist Mari Iwamoto. She ultimately declines to attend, worried that his fiancée will get the wrong idea. Iwamoto is heard by not seen (playing the slow movement of the Beethoven Kreisler Sonata). She was born in 1926, so she would have been around 23 at the time of this film. A photograph.
• During the recital, someone (It doesn't look like Noriko, but perhaps it is) appears to return a ticket to the usher and leave. We then see Noriko walking down the street, looking troubled...
• Cut to the empty hallway in the home. We would expect Noriko to enter, since we just saw her, presumably homeward bound...
• But -- surprise -- it's Aya (Yumeji Tsukioka) -- the "modern-girl" at the door. Noriko is not back yet. Ozu gives us a ton of info as she talks with Shukichi about her work (she's a stenographer, not a typist!) and her ex-husband.
• Ozu makes sure we get the point about this "modern-girl." After sitting in the traditional Japanese posture with her legs bent for only a few moments, she has trouble standing up because her legs fell asleep!
• This is the first of three Noriko-Aya scenes where Ozu shows us Noriko at her most unguarded, natural state; Aya is an old friend and near her own age. Here, Noriko is in a good mood; the girls hold hands and Aya -- who has been to a class reunion -- gossips about old classmates. The scene shows us their close friendship and the conversation finally gets around to Noriko's marital status -- she's one of only two classmates at the reunion who remains unmarried. Noriko balks at taking advice from a divorcée. Aya counters with a baseball metaphor:
  • "I only have one out. Next time I'll get a run."
  • Noriko: "Still stepping up to bat?"
  • "Why not? I just struck out. Next time I'll crack one out of the park."
• The scene plays out for another few beats, as Noriko gets the bread and jam, tiptoeing so as not to wake her father...
• Cut. Kids playing baseball. Noriko is visiting her aunt who wants her to meet a suitor.
  • "He looks like that American. The man in that baseball movie (Pride of the Yankees [1942])."
  • "Gary Cooper?"
  • "That's right, Cooper. Looks just like him."
    • Hirano: "This line was marked by the censors simply because he was an American actor. Perhaps because the censors later realized that he was being referred to in a flattering way, this humorous line survived in the final script" (p. 84).
• In the middle of this scene, Noriko moves to chair by the shoji and begins to play with a length of string. Auntie begins to talk about the possibility of Father remarrying with Akiko Miwa. By the end of the conversation, Noriko has wound the string tightly around her finger...
• She comes home in a terrible mood and -- feeling the need to avoid her father -- leaves the house to "go shopping."
• In the next scene, Hattori drops by, but no one is home but the maid. He drops off a package, which contains his engagement photograph. The maid shares it with the gardener: "What a beautiful bride..."
• 0:52:18: Noriko and her father are attending a Noh play. This famous scene last nearly seven minutes, during which Ozu shows us all sorts of things from all kinds of different perspectives.
  • Father just loves the Noh -- you can see it in his face.
  • At one point, he sees Akiko Miwa and bows politely, but his attention is immediately directed back towards the Noh (as is hers)...
  • Noriko, however, seems upset. She glares back at Akiko, who has returned her gaze to the performance. She seems to become more and more agitated as the scene continues.
  • The performance itself is quite beautiful. Ozu gracefully transfers the final bit of music and singing to an exterior shot of swaying trees -- that wonderful Ozu "fermata" I've been talking about...
• After the play, Noriko storms off to Aya's house. In this second Noriko-Aya scene we see the opulence of Aya's home, she has a servant, etc. Picking through their conversation, we understand that she has asked Aya about working ... Aya thinks she should just get married.
  • Noriko won't eat Aya's shortcake. She is acting petulant. "This just shows you need a man."
  • Noriko storms out.
  • 1:04:04: A door slams. CU magazines falling off chair. Beautiful transition shot...
• Noriko returns home and has the important conversation with Father. He is going to remarry. She is devastated.
• In the third and final Noriko-Aya scene, Noriko has calmed down. She has met the suitor and Aya encourages her.
  • Hirano: "American censors considered feudalistic the Japanese custom of arranged meetings for prospective marriage partners, miai, because the custom seemed to them to downgrade the importance of the individual ... None of Ozu's films on the relationships between parents and their unmarried daughters would have survived if this standard had been applied strictly; thus we are particularly fortunate that these films were actually made. However, in this case of [this film], the censors thought that its story of the daughter's marriage through the miai stystem was an attempt to preserve feudalistic values. The matchmaker in the film (Auntie) refers to a prospective husband who comes from an old and well-established family from the area. The censors considered this section particularly offensive, and underlined it for deletion in the first script, although it was reinstated in the final version" (p. 70). Ozu seems to have done pretty well with American censorship, at least in this particular film.
• She returns home. Quietly and meekly she tells Auntie that she'll accept. Father questions her about the decision. She answers in monosyllables and looks indescribably sad. She goes upstairs and father sits, contemplative. Ozu finishes off with a CU where Ryu looks absolutely blank...
• Cut to a lovely composition: We're in Kyoto -- rooftops, a pagoda, hillside, mountains in the distance and the sky filling the top half the frame...
• CU of the four-story pagoda.
• By the time we meet up with Onadera, Noriko is much happier.
• 1:24:35: Father is with Mrs. Onadera. "Kyoto is so nice and relaxing. Nothing like this in Tokyo -- just clouds of dust."
• The original line before censorship: "Tokyo is full of burned sites" (Hirano, p. 54).
• 1:28:47. Noriko is confessing her feelings to her father. She found the idea of Onodera remarrying so "indecent" -- but now she has changed her mind.
• Watch as Ozu makes on-screen poetry. Note the rhythmic feel provided by the cut length...
  • "Father," she begins, in a wide two-shot, a gorgeous composition with the willow branches silhouetted against the white window light.
  • [13 sec] Switch to tight CU on Noriko: "even in your case I found the idea really distasteful." She turns to look at him, but
  • [5 sec] Cut, he is asleep.
  • [11 sec] Back on her; she turns her head back again. She has a sort of dreamy look on her face. Father is snoring.
  • [6 sec] Cut to the famous vase, empty, sitting by the window.
  • [11 sec] Cut back to Noriko. She looks satisfied and resigned.
  • [10 sec] Cut back to the vase. The music begins, accompanying the snoring...
  • [10 sec] Cut to a beautiful rock garden, nearly empty except for three or four rocks...
  • [6 sec] Cut CU of two or three rocks.
• From there, he reverse angles on Sukichi and Onodera sitting on the steps, viewing the garden.
• The scene is poetic because we are forced to make of these images what we will. What does it all mean? Noriko's feelings have evolved to this point -- we see the vase, empty, just sitting there silently (father is snoring) -- then the rock garden. Such beautiful emptiness ... but look (CU) -- the individual rocks ... this is mu ...
• The next transition features several shots of groups of rocks...
• ... transitioning to Father and Noriko packing. She tries -- one last time -- to see if Father will agree to let things continue as they are. He tries to explain happiness to her.
• Cut to a group of young boys hovering around a fancy automobile. One boy is honking the horn.
• Cut to Father and Hattori, dressed up, smoking. The strains of "Here Comes the Bride" are combined with the honking (very nice!) ...
• 1:38:07: Father goes upstairs to see his daughter in her wedding dress. No possible description can convey the almost unbearable beauty of this scene. Both Ryu and Hara are at the absolute top of their game here -- her kneeling thanks to Father are sublime.
• A nice, naturalistic touch. Father and Noriko leave -- but Auntie does a quick sweep around the room to see if she'd forgotten anything ...
• Three cuts of kids running around the car; an interior still, with a mirror; pullback cut on same empty room. Ozu holds this last for eight seconds.
• Cut to Father and Aya, drinking at a bar.
  • We never see the actual wedding ceremony at all. Nor do we ever see her new husband, or even learn his name...
• Father confesses to Aya that he never had any intention of remarrying. She kisses him on the forehead. (Look at Ryu!!!)
• Again you must see what cannot adequately be described:
  • Father comes home. The maid congratulates him and leaves. He is all alone. He sits down and peels an apple. The peel drops to the floor. We see his face and therefore his soul.
  • Cut to the sea, the waves rolling in. The end.

*43. Munekata kyoudai (The Munekata Sisters) (8/25/50) (112 min.) [Sound B&W] [buy it here -- NO ENGLISH SUBTITLES!]

The story of two sisters and their life together, a life complicated by the demands of their family and their interests in the outside world.

Without the benefit of subtitles, it is difficult to say much about this film:

• It looks beautiful. The print is clean, the soundtrack audible and distinct. Why isn't this film available with English subs?
• For the very first time in his career, Ozu directed a film for a studio other than Shochiku -- Shintoho, As its name implies ("shin" means "new"), the studio was created from defectors of Toho. (Kurosawa made Stray Dog [1949] for this studio.)
• Jiro Osaragi wrote the novel which Ozu and Noda used as the basis for their screenplay.
• Ozu: "To be frank, I find it difficult to make a film out of a novel. You're forced into reworking the imagination of the author, and then have to select someone to play a role already created. When I write, I always write with an actor in mind from the beginning, and this helps create the role in the film" (quoted in Richie, p. 236).
• Richie provides a few more spicy details:
  • "Ozu was further hampered by ... Shintoho's insistence on some romantic interest for its big-name stars, something that Ozu never handled very well. Moreover, Kinuyo Tanaka had just returned from America and was full of herself and new ideas on acting, none of which Ozu agreed with; for once, he was heard to grumble about an actor" (p. 236).
• Another film without the familiar burlap weave background behind the credits. New studio, new look. Just dull gray...
• The film opens on a pillow shot which, if not identical to the opening shot of the "Kyoto" section of Late Spring is nearly so -- the Kyoto pagoda ...
• Our old friend Tatsuo Saitô (see Days of Youth [1929]) is back as Professor Uchida. He seems to crack several jokes to his students. We never see him again after this scene...
• The film is, indeed, packed with big-name stars of the time: Hideko Takamine, Ken Uehara, and of course, Ryu (who looks like the Father he has played and will play for the remainder of his Ozu career)...
• 0:22:39: We see the same English sign behind the Bar Acacia that we saw in What Did the Lady Forget? ("I drink upon occasion, sometimes upon no occasion -- Don Quioxte"). This one is fancier, with the Johnny Walker figurine next to it...
• 0:32:27: Kurosawa regular Kamatari Fujiwara! Not listed in the credits -- but I'm certain it's her -- is Noriko Sengoku, who is in the two scenes with Fujiwara...
• 1:02:32: In the past several films, Ozu has featured many upper-class families. I believe this is the third or fourth home we've seen where there is a prominent display of an armored samurai. In the previous films, they've just served as nice set design pieces, but here, Ozu has some fun with it:
  • Mariko (Takamine) stops in front of the samurai and adjusts her stocking (showing a lot of leg!) ... turns to the samurai and pulls his helmet down. If this is meant to be ironic, I suppose it has to do with the fact that this "modern girl" seems to be embarrassed by an inert symbol of the past.
• This film clearly has more cats in it than any other Ozu picture.
• The scene at the Acacia Bar has the Beer Barrel Polka playing in the background. This scene lasts for seven minutes and we hear the polka four times, complete!
• At the end of the scene, Hiroshi (Uehara) speaks the English words on the Johnny Walker sign ("I drink upon occasion, and sometimes upon no occasion") and then throws his glass at it. Mariko follow suit, and throws glass after glass. Ozu shows us the sign taking some damage...
• 1:48:27: Coca-cola sign.
• I look forward to seeing this film with subtitles someday...

*44. Bakushû (Early Summer) (10/3/51) (125 min.) [Sound B&W] [buy it here]

Various small stories, almost anecdotes, make up this picture of a family. Six family members live together in Kamakura. At the end the daughter agrees to marry and the family is dissolved.

• A truly great, enduring masterpiece. This is one of those films that holds up so well on repeat viewings. A veritable whirlwind of an ensemble piece, there is so much going on in a film where not much happens. The viewer sits for 125 minutes and observes the seemingly casual unwinding threads of an upper-middle class Japanese family in 1951.
• This film was released almost exactly 60 years ago.
• Second in the "Noriko trilogy."
• After an interruption of one film, Ozu is back with Shochiku.
  

Ten of the final eleven films are on Criterion or Eclipse (the next entry [#45] is an Asian DVD). This Criterion release gives the film the treatment it deserves -- really great essays by Bordwell (analysis) and Jim Jarmusch (on his love of Ozu and first pilgramage to Japan); Richie commentary (truly insightful. Funny -- he introduces himself as having written "a few books about Japanese cinema, and the book about Ozu." His voice didn't particularly accent the "the" -- but I do! It truly is the book on Ozu); a great interview about behind the scenes stuff (child actor/soundman, assistant camerman and producer -- good stuff!) and the original trailer (fascinating to see how it was cut).

The above précis gives a pretty clear idea about what an Ozu picture looks like from here on. His style is fully developed and his scripts written with such polish and elan that you cannot help but be completely sucked into these 125 minutes, so naturally does everything unfold before your eyes and ears.

Richie brilliantly describes what it meant for Ozu to reach this stage: 

•  "Ozu's early diaries are filled with complaints about 'no story,' that is, no visible way of dramatizing what story he has. They are so frequent (the only entry more often encountered is 'drunk again last night') that one realizes what a problem dramatization was for him ... from The Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family on, Ozu solved his problem. He did not untie the knot; he cut it. [In these late pictures] we see the results -- the 'story' is simply the recounting (balanced, artful, incisive) of what happened. It became increasingly possible to compress this 'story' into a one-line description, though to do so gives no indication of the film's enormous emotional power" (p. 237).

Cataloguing some of the amazing moments in this quietly powerful film:

• The film begins with the usual magnificent pillow shots:
  • 0:02:32: The first image is a familiar one -- the sea, waves washing in ... but here we have a dog running along the surf. Once the dog exits the frame, Ozu continues to hold on the small crashing waves [:23]
  • 0:02:55: Another stunning composition: we are looking through an open window. The left and right sides create a smaller sub-frame. We look out on a hillside (for really eagle-eyed Ozu viewers, look carefully! Ozu has filmed this exact hillside from different, wider angles where you can clearly see the half-dozen lone trees at the top!). On the upper right of the frame -- a birdcage (and a chirping bird) [:07]
  • 0:03:02: Int: view of hallway, two birdcages ... here the music begins. Home Sweet Home (played on the celesta) will permeate the soundtrack for a great deal of the remainder of this film. Here, it continues -- nonstop -- for the next five minutes [:08]

Three shots in 30 seconds set the mood, taking us from "empty" nature to the "chirping" Mamiya househould ...

There are a lot of characters in this film. In order of appearance, the Mamiya family:

1. Grandfather, Shukichi Mamiya (Ichirô Sugai)
2. His grandson, Minoru (Zen Murase)
3. Daughter-in-Law; Mother, Fumiko Mamiya (Kuniko Miyake)
4. Daughter, Noriko (Setsuko Hara)
5. Minoru's younger brother, Isamu (Isao Shirosawa)
6. Son; Father, Koichi Mamiya (Chishu Ryu)
7. Grandmother, Shige Mamiya (Chieko Higashiyama) [fantastic as the busybody mom in Kurosawa's The Idiot, made this same year]

• Take a look at the way Ozu films a simple event like breakfast:
  • 0:03:10: CU Grandfather mixing something in a bowl. He takes the white teapot and begins to pour [:18]
  • 0:03:28: Reverse axial cut ... the camera pulls back as he finishes pouring. His grandson, Minoru comes to tell him that breakfast is ready. He leaves the frame / cut / [:16]
  • 0:03:44: hallway shot; Minoru is coming down the steps (thus Ozu's logical filmic geometry places Grandfather upstairs) ... Fumiko gives Minoru a bowl to take to the table; Minoru exits frame right / cut / [:11]
  • 0:03:55: Camera low, directly facing Noriko. Koichi is in the background getting dressed for work and Minoru has just brought in the bowl of pickles ... They are calling / cut / [:15]
  • 0:04:10: Minoru's younger brother, Isamu. He walks sleepily towards the camera / cut / [:08]
  • 0:04:18: Camera now behind Noriko, facing Isamu. Noriko tells him to go wash his face [:14]
  • 0:04:32: Hallway shot towards Fumiko [:06]
• The entire time, everyone is doing something; most are eating; Koichi is getting dressed. Check out the naturalistic tone...

A beautiful transition: Minoru, going to school, closes the shoji, bell jingling, sliding sound / cut / camera just outside left side of train, previous sounds melting into the clicking and clacking of the train. This is one of Ozu's favorite shots. The camera is outside the train, with a POV similar to what you'd get if you hung your head out the train window.

• 0:08:14: The train rounds a curve [:09]
• 0:08:23: Train interior. Koichi and friend (Character #8) Nishiwaki (Seiji Miyaguchi) [Seven Samurai] are reading the newspaper [:13]
• 0:08:30: They exchange sections. Koichi looks out the window [:13]
• 0:08:47: The Kitakamakura sign from the train station (filmed from a different angle than the one in Late Spring). Train passengers walking by. (Senji Itô's score [his last of six for Ozu] here begins a rather mournful Largo, which continues until 0:10:18. (The lugubrious nature of this score actually continues nonstop throughout the film. The only break comes from the "music box" celesta playing the "Home Sweet Home" music.) Noriko, standing on the platform. She takes a few steps / cut / [:11]
• 0:09:06: She sees her neighbor (Character #9) Kenkichi Yabe (Hiroshi Nihon'yanagi), approaches, says good morning [:12]
• 0:09:18: A lovely composition: On the left, an anonymous passenger, an older man. Noriko and Kenkichi stand together on the right side. The sound of the train begins in the last few seconds of this cut [:15]
• 0:09:33: The camera is now placed behind the railing where the passengers were waiting. The train rolls by / cut / [:13]
• 0:09:40: This is one of my favorite cuts in all of the Ozu canon! The camera is high on a hill, overlooking the rooftops which slope down towards the railroad tracks and then another hill rises above in the background. The first thing the eye notices is two people -- specks in this perspective -- walking along the road, just as the 10-car train is entering the right of frame. Naturally, Ozu won't move on until the train is completely out of frame. At the very end you can see a bicyclist going in the opposite direction [:28]

Ozu transitions to the next meal:

• 0:14:29: Ext: Buildings, lamp, night [:08]
• 0:14:37: Sign: "Shikikawa" [:06]
• 0:14:43: Int: Maid delivering order [:12]

There are four camera positions in the following terrific food scene:

SU#1: Medium-shot of Fumiko, Noriko (back to camera) and Koichi.

SU#2: Slightly angled CU of Noriko. When she speaks to Koichi she is nearly facing the camera.

SU#3: CU Koichi, straight-on.

SU#4: Like SU#1, but Koichi, Fumiko (back to camera) and Noriko.

• 0:14:55: SU#1 Noriko, Fumiko and Koichi. Jokes about drinking [:26]
• 0:15:21: SU#2 CU Noriko [:06]
• 0:15:27: SU#3 CU Koichi [:02]
• 0:15:29: SU#2 Noriko [:03]
• 0:15:32: SU#3 Koichi [:01]
• 0:15:33: SU#4 Etiquette [:41]
• 0:16:14: SU#3 Koichi on wartime; women's rights [:07] (I'll bet SCAP loved this part!)
• 0:16:23: SU#2 Noriko, side-on [:06]
• 0:16:29: SU#1 "Hear, hear" Koichi: "That's why you can't get married" [:06]
• 0:16:35: SU#2 Noriko: "It's not that I can't. I could in a minute if I wanted to" [:04]
• 0:16:39: SU#3 Koichi: "So you say" [:02]
• 0:16:41: SU#1 Fumiko: "Just don't marry a doctor" And a lazy coda with everyone enjoying the delicious-looking food [:49]

Pillow-shot:

• 0:17:30: Laundry on the line [:09]

Which introduces us to Uncle (Character #10, the magnificent Kokuten Kôdô. He appeared in 13 Kurosawa films).

• He seems hard of hearing.
• Minoru thinks so too, and asks Noriko, who says he can hear just fine.
• The boys call him an "idiot" to see if he can hear them. Uncle laughs.

Bird chirping and slow lethargic music. Ozu begins with a fabulous (and famous) pillow shot:

• 0:21:59: "The Great Bhudda" [:09]

Notice the longer cuts ~

• 0:22:08: The kids are playing by the steps in front of the Bhudda [:11]
• 0:22:19: Noriko and Uncle [:25]
• 0:22:54: Noriko sees Kenkichi's mother, Tami Yabe (Haruko Sugimura, Character #11) with (Character #12) Kenkichi's little girl, Mitsuko (Ito Kazuyo, no speaking lines, her sole IMDb credit) [:36]
• 0:23:30: The boys and Uncle [:25]
• 0:23:55: Camera pulls back [:13]

Another transitional pillow-shot:

• 0:24:08: Car, poster. Outside Kabuki theatre [:09]

To: 

• 0:24:17: Interior: theatre [:06]
• 0:24:23: The rare pan! The camera comes to rest on the family, Uncle centered (This dolly shot will be paralleled at 0:31:58) [:11]
• 0:24:44: Frontal shot: Unknown woman, Grandma, Uncle, Grandpa. (Observe Kôdô here!) [:20]
• 0:25:04: Hallway (we can still hear the play) [:06]
• 0:25:10: Int. room; Noriko and her friend (Character #13), Aya (Chikage Awashima). [:10]
• 0:25:20: Ozu surprises us. The girls are sitting on a couch, but listening to the play on the radio!
• 0:27:00: (Character #14) Takako (Kuniko Igawa) has stayed overnight at Aya's, because she had a fight with her husband. The two unmarried girls make a little fun of Takako, using the word "ne" ("what?" "right!" "fer sure," etc.)
  • Aya: She doesn't have to put up with it. (Turns to Noriko) Doesn't she? ne!"
  • Noriko: "It's only natural, isn't it? ne!"
  • "Husband's are all like that. That's why we don't get married, ne!"
  • "That's right, isn't it! ne!" [:14]
• (Her husband eventually calls and she leaves Aya and Noriko to go meet him.)

• 0:31:54: A rather rare camera movement. Noriko has just left the frame; the camera slowly pushes forward / cut /
• 0:31:58: repeating the same pan from 0:24:23, except that all the seats are now empty.
• 0:32:25: Look at this composition with six people!
• 0:34:50: Here he bookends two separate pillow shots -- with camera movement -- to sandwich in this scene at Koichi's hospital: first, a small, graceful dolly past the windows (top frame) and some jugs and bottles (bottom), coming to rest on a slowly spinning barometer, frame right. The scene (Aya's mother Nobu [Toyo Takahashi] {Character #15} wants Koichi to check her heart out -- later we learn that the problem was with her nose) ends when they both leave the room and the camera again pans towards the right on a bookshelf ... unlike the opening pan, however, this one doesn't stop, but transitions right into the next scene ...

• 0:38:35: Isamu tries to eavesdrop on an adult conversation.
• 0:40:38: Noriko and Aya (unmarried) have lunch with Takako and her married friend. It is not just the Mamiya family that is dissolving, but old friendships, as well.
• 0:49:47: Tami Yabe mentions Shoji (brother to Koichi and Noriko), the important character in this film who is never seen. He was probably killed in the war, but Grandmother still retains hope, although Grandfather does not.
• 0:58:44: Grandmother spots the balloon floating off in the sky. "Some child must be crying." A poignant moment...
• 1:03:44: The adults hide the 900¥ cake from Minoru. 
• 1:09:42: Minoru learns not to kick food.
• 1:14:14: Kenkichi joins Noriko to look for the boys. This plot-point will be repeated in Good Morning (1959). Here it takes on a special resonance on repeat viewing...
• 1:20:36: Satake and Aya have a peculiar conversation. First, Satake wonders whether Noriko might not be a lesbian. Then he asks Aya out for Sushi. You have to listen to Richie's commentary to really understand Satake's lewd sexual jokes.
• 1:20:55: Audrey Hepburn is namechecked.
• 1:22:25: Brilliant: First, a pillow shot of a church (appropriate music on the soundtrack) and cut to Noriko and Kenkichi at a cafe. He is speaking to her about her late brother, Shoji, who was his close friend. Another important scene, better understood on repeat viewings.
• 1:24:12: Pillow shot: poster for Northwest Airlines.
• 1:24:14: The big scene between Noriko and Mrs. Yabe.
  • Richie relates an interesting detail about Sugimura's performance here. One of the producers wanted to use a take he thought particularly good -- "she was so good -- crying and exulting" -- but Ozu said "no, not at all, that she was overacting, and that he did not want anyone's performance to stand out in the finished film. He chose a later take, one made after the actress had lost some of her excitement" (p. 146).
• 1:41:05: Grandfather has gone out to buy birdseed. He is delayed at a railroad crossing and sits down to wait for the train to pass. From several different angles, Ozu shows us that he is staring up at the sky. In this cut, we see what he is looking at -- a large expanse of sky, recalling the previous lost balloon scene...
• 1:42:19: Aya can scarcely believe that Noriko is moving to Akita, farm country. Here they both imitate the country accent.
• 1:49:58: One of the most famous sequences in the Ozu canon. CU of sand and clumpy grass [9 sec]
• 1:50:07: The only crane shot in any Ozu film! The shot begins with Noriko and Fumiko at the very top of the frame; the rest is sand. The women are walking towards the crest of the dune, but it appears as though they are walking in place because of the rising camera -- a most magical effect! When the elevator reaches its apex [23 sec], Ozu cuts to
• 1:50:30: A closer shot of the two (still from behind) [12 sec]
• 1:50:42: And finally we face them frontally for their important conversation.
• 1:56:07: The family photograph. This scene is used on a loop for the DVD main root menu.
• 2:01:25: Noriko is crying in her room when we cut to this tranquil country scene. Notice how Ozu gets us to where we're going:
• 2:01:31: Closer, several houses.
• 2:01:40: And finally, CU of roof of house we're about to enter...
• 2:01:45: Uncle, in Yamato. We soon see that the grandparents have moved there, as they said they would back in an earlier scene...
• 2:04:24: Ozu takes us out of the previous scene with the same pillow shots, but in reverse order. When we get to the field (2:01:25), the camera begins to dolly towards the right, creating an astonishing feeling of motion because of the swaying grain...
• FTB. The End.