Remembering Ozu

TOKYO MONOGATARI (1953)

Ozu Yasujiro died on his 60th birthday on December 12 1963. 

So today, I would like to commemorate his 111th anniversary with a hardly noticeable double matchcut from a TOKYO MONOGATARI scene appropriate for the occasion:

Anyone who has seen at least one Ozu film, knows how much he liked matchcuts that defy our sense of continuity editing. I am not talking of the family members and the doctor in near identical places in two of the three frames. I am referring to the background space that is in one frame occupied by the typical Ozu lamp (top center), then by a towel and finally by gap in the reed background. It might be a coincidence, but then Ozu was very particular about arranging objects to achieve the composition he envisioned in his head...

EARLY SUMMER (1951)

Ozu is buried near the now iconic Kita-Kamakura station known around the world as the recurring location of films like EARLY SUMMER (BAKUSHU, 1953). There is even a website dedicated to Ozu pilgrims that tells you how to get there.