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Analysis of “There Was A Father”, 00:42:00 – 00:47:59

Shohei Imamura, a very prominent Japanese film director (Pigs and Battleships, The Ballad of Narayama, The Eel), was once Ozu’s assistant. He immensely hated Ozu’s style of film direction and asked to be relieved from the position. To him, Ozu had always picked the worst take out of tens of retakes. Ozu’s endless retake was infamous in the studio, as he kept saying no until actors and actresses were so exhausted that their uniqueness were stripped off. Imamura found nothing to be learned from Ozu’s direction. It is true that many of the acting in Ozu’s films look unnatural and …

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Then and Now, and In Between (Part 2)

Earthquake and Transformation On September 1, 1923, one of the largest earthquake in modern history of Japan hit the Kanto area. The death toll was more than 100,000, and the city was devastated by collapse, landslide and most of all, fire. The whole city was destroyed. Ozu has just started as a camera stuff in Shochiku, when the earthquake devastated the area. During the studio shutdown, he and his family had to rebuild their life again from scratch. This devastation initiated change in the city. Even before the earthquake, there were scholars and policy makers who insisted Tokyo need the …