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Eclipse Series #3 - Late Ozu (Early Spring Tokyo Twilight Equinox Flower Late Autumn The End of... |
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Eclipse Series #3 - Late Ozu (Early Spring Tokyo Twilight Equinox Flower Late Autumn The End of...
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by Criterion Collection
Sales Rank: 8968
Price: $38.99
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<p> This month, we present five wonderful works of art by Japanese master filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu. Made directly after Tokyo Story, widely considered his most perfect film and one of the greatest movies ever made, these titles show Ozu at the top of the game, visually and narratively. Elegant, humorous, rich with joy and sadness, these films further demonstrate why Ozu has become synonymous with the word cinema. <p> Five-Disc Set Includes: <p> <i>Early Spring:</i> A married salaryman in postwar Tokyo enters into an affair with an office mate in this moving portrait of a fragile marriage. <p> <i>Tokyo Twilight:</i> In the dead of winter, past and present traumas afflict two sisters and their aging father in this, one of Ozu's most heartbreaking and powerful works. <p> <i>Equinox Flower:</i> In Ozu's splendid first color film, a stubborn businessman who disapproves of his daughter's fiance must learn to embrace modern romance. <p> <i>Late Autumn:</i> Ozu regular Setsuko Hara, once the marrying child in Late Spring, becomes the parent in this poignant tale of the bonds between mother and daughter. <p> <i>The End of Summer:</i> Ozu's second-to-last film beautifully blends comedy and tragedy to tell the story of three sisters who are stunned to discover that their aging father has taken up with his former mistress.
Viewer Reviews
Here we have five very fine movies from the master of Japanese domestic dramas, Yasujiro Ozu. Of the five, I give Late Autumn, Tokyo Twilight & The End of Summer five stars. Early Spring and Equinox Flower are very strong four star movies. All five are, in one way or another, the type of quiet, dialogue heavy almost stagey examinations of the tremendous changes in postwar Japanese society at home, in leisure & in the workplace.
Ozu made one type of movie brilliantly. Through expert camera-work, nuanced acting and a brilliant understanding of human nature, Ozu returned again and again to discussing the inevitable sadnesses and quiet joys of everyday life in a quickly changing society. Much of his focus is on the prewar/postwar generation gap. Ozu was the rare social commentator who understood that life is messy, personalities are inexplicable, love endures & even deeply flawed people need and deserve love and respect.
Because he lacked range, (through choice, rather than ability, it would seem) I would hesitate to refer to Ozu as a "great" director. I would say he was an excellent director who did not achieve greatness. His movies lack the ingenious melodrama of Kurosawa, the searing soul-searching of Bergman, the sheer creativity of Fellini, the subtle brilliance of the relaxed playacting of Ford or the cleverness of Hitchcock. Ozu is an extremely worthy second best Japanese director to Kurosawa.
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Eclipse Series #3 - Late Ozu (Early Spring Tokyo Twilight Equinox Flower Late Autumn The End of...
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