My Top 10 Yasujiro Ozu Movies

[@jhchooo]

I saw Tokyo Story about 20 years ago at the Lincoln Center followed by a live interview Kyoko Kagawa. I could not believe she was there in person talking about the movie... it almost seems like the movie was made a 1000 years ago. It was an unforgettable experience and the greatest filmgoing experience I've ever had.

[@michaelbartlettfilm]

Wow, so jealous! Thanks for sharing, mate.

[@alexhoneydew7611]

I've been meaning to watch more Ozu films forever, and you did a fantastic job of describing his gifts as a director, and giving suggestions for what to try next. Thanks so much! (Incidentally, I get the impression that Ohayo/Good Morning is now one of his most popular movies, at least among younger US fans. It's on the Criterion Channel a lot and one of his most popular on Letterboxd, so happily it's getting a lot of love now).

[@michaelbartlettfilm]

Great to hear! Thanks, Alex.

[@lbbotpn5429]

Tokyo Story was my introduction to Ozu and I've been working my way through his films whenever the opportunity presents. I've gotten a good taste of his silent, post-war, and later films and I agree that (so far) there hasn't been a dud in the bunch. His story telling style is fairly subtle, but he knows how to connect with an audience and make them feel things deeply. To me, that's the mark of a true master. Thanks for the list and accompanying analysis - always greatly appreciated!

[@michaelbartlettfilm]

Thanks! I'm kicking myself - I forgot to mention Passing Fancy, another fave from his 30s work.

[@linkinwrath]

Hello again Michael I would like to thank you again for introducing me to Ozu from your introduction to the Japanese cinema series. I essentially purchased all the BFI blu ray releases I could get my hands on. Although I have not seen all of the movies mentioned, I do find it interesting that our top 3 are the same but with different placements. My favourite Ozu film is definitely Good Morning for reasons I can't even begin explain, I guess that's the power it has. I can only thank you again. Russ

[@michaelbartlettfilm]

Thanks so much, Russ. Glad you're enjoying Ozu - I loved discovering his work for the first time.

[@steve4films]

Fascinating "ramble". Thanks Mike. I'm definitely one of those people you mention at the start, who stopped after Tokyo Story. ...But if anyone can inspire me to venture further, it's you. 😁 I will aim to watch Late Spring or (for some colour) Floating Weeds.

[@michaelbartlettfilm]

Oh, that colour... It's boooootiful!

[@julieborel3043]

Although I am not knowledgeable at all regarding Yasujiro Ozu's films, I really enjoyed this video a lot. Very interesting, informative, and thoughtful.

[@michaelbartlettfilm]

Thanks, Julie!

[@barrymoore4470]

Wonderful presentation, Mike, with your strong emotional investment in these great works of art evident throughout. Ozu is my single favorite filmmaker, and the director I would proffer as the single greatest in the medium's history. His movies feel like quiet miracles helping to vindicate the terrible, remorseless century of their creation. I have not managed to become the Ozu completist you are, still having some major gaps in my viewing repertoire, including 'A Hen in the Wind', 'The Munekata Sisters' ( a film that Ozu specialist David Bordwell sees as flawed and minor), 'Tokyo Twilight', and 'Early Spring'. Based on what I have seen, I would propose 'Early Summer' as Ozu's overall supreme achievement, the film combining the formal playfulness characterizing his silent period with the gentle contemplative mood distinguishing his postwar classics. 'Equinox Flower' is my favorite of the late color films, while 'I Was Born, But...' is the silent masterpiece I would single out, if called to, as the greatest achievement of those years. Still, 'Passing Fancy' is a film I love just as much, and the beautiful 'Tokyo Chorus' grows in strength with each new viewing. 'Late Spring' is incontestably one of the most beautiful artistic accomplishments of the past century. If this were the only film to survive into the posterity of the third millennium, it would by itself be ample proof of the greatness to which cinema could and sometimes did attain.

[@michaelbartlettfilm]

Thanks, Barry. I'm glad you enjoyed it, because I know you're as big an Ozu fan as I am! I didn't mention Equinox Flower, but it's a superb movie, although I admit I haven't seen it in a while. (The Munekata Sisters is minor, but it's fun!)

[@Unaimedarrow808]

I was so excited to see Floating Weeds come in at #10. Such an excellent film, but now there’s 9 others just as good or even better!? Thanks for this thoughtful video.

[@michaelbartlettfilm]

You're very welcome!

[@hadinasrallah8928]

Ozu is my absolute favorite director of all time and you’re so right! Every time people online show their criterions i only ever see Tokyo story and they stopped right there because “that’s it I’ve seen all he as to offer” when they’re missing out on alot

[@michaelbartlettfilm]

I know, so sad. Thanks for your comment, though!

[@conorangutan]

Adding to the other comment, I also have noticed that Good Morning is probably the second most popular of his films these days

[@michaelbartlettfilm]

Hoorah for Ohayo!

[@ed1rko17]

I think Autumn Afternoon is the definitive Ozu film, which is an unpopular sentiment. That's the one film that feels like a culmination of every Ozu film into one story, and it's incidentally the best shot, given how good Ozu was with colour, and his experience at this point. Floating Weeds is a close contender on that front. Ohayo is the most easily approachable. I don't know how anyone could dislike that film.

[@michaelbartlettfilm]

Thanks, Ed. Great to see so much appreciation for the colour films. I often feel they get overshadowed by Tokyo Story and his earlier work. But they are lovely.

[@barrymoore4470]

Some easily offended audiences might take umbrage at the flatulence jokes in 'Ohayo', but everything there is so good-natured and humane that it is indeed difficult to think anyone could dismiss or disparage the movie.

[@garyrobinson8665]

Love Ozu. Really interesting ranking. Ive seen most of his films. Of course I love Late Spring and i think its better than Tokyo Story. The bicycle scene is of the greatest scenes in cinema. It was my favourite for a long time but now my favourite is Late Autumn. Its such a warm and charming film. Its also beautiful to look at. Its very underrated like you say.

[@michaelbartlettfilm]

A Late Autumn fan! Hooray!

[@StevenT-hz7pt]

Great video

[@michaelbartlettfilm]

Thanks, Steve!

[@cmonman3639]

I'm crazy about Yasujiro Ozu. My very favorites are Equinox Flower, the color version of Floating Weeds, and Late Spring -- but of course I love most of them. (I also don't understand the love that most people have for Akira Kurosawa.)

[@michaelbartlettfilm]

I'm with you on Kurosawa. I want to get into his films, but they seem too broad and superficial for me.

[@barrymoore4470]

@@michaelbartlettfilm I share these same demurrals on Kurosawa's films. I remain interested in exploring them, but they don't engage me as much as I would hope for such a widely lauded director. I find his actors' vocal deliveries overly strident, and there is a tendency to have the extras and supporting performers all behave identically, as if they shared one mind between them. Superficial is a good word to describe these effects.

[@michaelbartlettfilm]

@@barrymoore4470 It's interesting what you say about his direction of actors and the consequent impact on character. Sometimes I feel the same way about Mizoguchi - there's a stridency in the characters, they seem to be avatars of a particular point of view, or objects for a painterly study, rather than fully-formed people, as you would encounter in Ozu or Naruse or Shimizu.

[@barrymoore4470]

@@michaelbartlettfilm I've had a somewhat related perception of Mizoguchi in that I don't find the films as engaging as I had hoped. There's a certain remove or impassivity I sense from the director in relation to his subjects that frustrates me. The film of his I've seen that I most admire (and I know significant portions of his output are lost) is 'Zangiku monogatari' ('The Tale of Late Chrysanthemums'), his 1939 masterpiece, which has this same frustrating component in how the camera is consistently placed at a distance from the actors, making them appear as objects within a painted scroll, which impedes (deliberately I think) the viewer's emotional identification with them.

[@michaelbartlettfilm]

@@barrymoore4470 I agree that Late Chrysanthemums is his best, but I'd also recommend Gion Bayashi, precisely because it's one of the few Mizoguchi films where the characters feel more rounded and developed and sympathetic. Ironically, Mizoguchi himself didn't care for the film, seeing it as an "assignment".

[@stuartgeorge2324]

Never got into Japanese cinema, but I recently bought the Shogun TV series from early 80 s Richard chamberlain Blu-ray boxset it's 9 hrs long bit of nostalgia👍🏻 I'm 7 hrs in to it and loving it 👍🏻 I have a soft spot for Richard chamberlain

[@michaelbartlettfilm]

I remember Shogun! I remember the bit where he gets peed on! Odd that's the bit I recall most. Rich's best movie...? Petulia.

[@stuartgeorge2324]

@@michaelbartlettfilm oooooo no in my top ten movies of all time the count of monte cristo I absolutely adore it great performances Donald pleasance tony Curtis Richard chamberlain it's a wonderful film 🎥👍🏻

[@michaelbartlettfilm]

@@stuartgeorge2324 Wow, I haven't seen that since I were a nipper! Great story - I used to love my little abridged kiddie version of it.

[@stuartgeorge2324]

@@michaelbartlettfilm trust me get the Network Blu-ray hmv £14;99 it's fantastic I would love your review thoughts on it , it's just a wonderful film 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

[@julieborel3043]

@@stuartgeorge2324 I love The Count of Monte Cristo with Richard Chamberlain too. I also really enjoyed Shogun and Centennial. And he was great portraying a real jerk in The Towering Inferno! 😆

[@mauryvan361]

I enjoyed your summary of Ozu's work, - I knew nothing about him until I discovered his post-war films on Prime and watched every one. I like his films very much and your commentary makes me appreciate them even more. And I agree with your Top 10, WITH ONE HUGE EXCEPTION. Sorry Criterion and Letterbox, and in the spirit of fun debate, this mundane midwesterner thinks Good Morning is lousy (I gave it a 4 on IMDB). I never saw "I Was Born But," but I think your short description of that 1930s movie may have added more luster to your opinion of Good Morning than it deserves. Anarchic kids (prewar) who find out their big bad dad is a toady adds a critical dimension that Good Morning completely lacks. These kids aren't anarchic, they're bratty baby boomers. There's no depth to any of these characters as there is in all the rest of the films you list. It's boring, tedious, and tells no story other than in the 1950s Japanese kids were turning into as big a brats as their American counterparts. I read that Ozu called this a slapstick comedy. Uh huh - I bet he was a barrel of laughs at parties. He can do subtle humor perfectly, slapstick - not so much. The fact that the running "big" joke of the movie is about wet farts !?!, - this movie is as deep as a petri dish. Think about what you're really saying. There are no fleshed out humans in this movie. In his other movies he could give one of his actors 2 minutes and they could be brilliant. Never here. You seriously can't say every movie he made is a masterpiece. That can be said about no one. I'll watch the rest of his films over and over. Pair this with Jacques Tati and I wouldn't need to leave the couch. Speaking of Tati - I find the scores of Ozu's movies to be very similar to Tati's, that little bouncy French postwar music. I've re-watched it - I don't get it - it turns from a building into a robot?

[@michaelbartlettfilm]

Ha, ha! OK, fair enough, we'll agree to disagree on that one. I always saw Ohayo as laced through with melancholy - perhaps I've been reading too much into it or been in a bad mood at the time! Whatever, I still love it.

[@mauryvan361]

@ yeah I understand but saying an Ozu film is laced with melancholy is like saying a Hitchcock film is laced with suspense. They all have the melancholy of a still life.

[@gutridge]

No love for WHAT DID THE LADY FORGET? (I'm joking, it lands in most people's blind spot, but I love it). I'm a little surprised that RECORD OF A TENEMENT GENTLEMAN didn't make the cut, as it's (apart from the ghastly title) a very accessible Ozu film that adumbrates the Hallmark melodrama decades before such a thing existed. Enjoying your videos thoroughly, apart from your hatred of Brian Donlevy (whose performance sees no essential difference between an administrative scientist with a private eye in a trenchcoat).

[@michaelbartlettfilm]

I've seen LADY FORGET but I can't remember too much about it, to be honest. Tenement Gentlemen was definitely a runner-up...as was every other Ozu film ever made! I most regret missing out Passing Fancy. I'll remember to go easy on Brian Donlevy next time I mention him!

[@NAmania]

Thank you for the wonderful analysis! I think you 're spot on about Ozu liking (I'd go as far as saying "loving" actually) all of his films subjects in way that shines through without having to be stated! I think he possessed a supreme and unmatched sense of empathy and also the ability to peer into our subconscious and reveal many of our inner "workings" in a way I haven't seen elsewhere. The only thing you've touched on but I would further emphasize, is that within his films several thematic narratives (that go waaaaaay beyond the apparent plot ) are woven from many major or minor elements (plot, shots, rythm, repetition, timing, framing etc etc). These themes might just be ways to make us feel empathy for the characters, give a playful tempo to the film or even push us into existential/philosophical territory, while always keeping his "tender" touch on things. For me personally, Ozu helped me to achieve a breakthrough against my deep seated fears about time & death and accept them as gracefully as possible. I know this might sound hyperbolic, but I will be eternally grateful to him for that! Cheers! 😁

[@michaelbartlettfilm]

Thanks so much for this comment. I always appreciate hearing Ozu love!