Yasujiro OZU on trains & automobiles

I'm new to Ozu - learning about him through Wim Wender's 1983 filming of "Tokyo-Ga." Even so, I know enough of him to appreciate all that's been written of him and the bits of his works that I've seen.

What's puzzling (or paradoxical) is that on his gravestone is the single Kanji character "mu", meaning nothing or emptiness. I think about the significance or meaning of this, especially considering that he's passed away.

For Ozu lovers,

The single best book to know about the man and his films is "Ozu and the Poetics of Cinema" by David Bordwell. It is the most convincing analysis of what Ozu was up to throughout his career, how his craft developed, as well as on side-issues like what the camera placements mean and whether Ozu is the greatest director of all time.

I've heard the term "pillow shot" on several occasions, but couldn't find the definition anywhere.

According to Doug Cummings: "The term "pillow shot" was not coined by Ozu himself, but several years after his passing in the early 1960s by a Japanese journalist who was trying to draw a comparison of the intermediate scenes to "pillow words" found in traditional Japanese poetry. "

Yes Yes. The buildings reflected in thecar light and the train arriving in the station with the shadow falling across it. Those quiet platforms with the trees in the breeze. A master. Brilliant compposititons

unspeakably beautiful..thx :]

Deleuze has written that Ozu's films represent "still lifes as the pure form of time" and that the director is the first to use what Deleuze calls 'time-images', images that are no longer part of an action and narrative but self-sufficient. Ozu's images float calmly in infinity; this is the beauty of his films.

What he actually said is that the images *contain* time. The flow is a symptom of the organic regime of cinema while Ozu heralds a switch to the crystalline paradigm: time is now an emanation of cinema rather than the other way round.

Just bought Criterion Collection Eclipse Series 3 Late Ozu and popped in "Early Spring". I can't get enough of Ozu's style. It's poetic, meditative, and gentle. Even the static pillow shots as shown here made me reflect on moments in my own life. I love how the titles of his films describe the time of season, Early Spring, Late Spring, Late Autumn, End Of Summer etc. They are like song titles.

100% agree with u on that..i know the exact part you mean...i had the same feelings....i love ozu and hate him at the same time...i love his work...but i hate the fact that id never ever be as talented as him :(