I’ve been watching movies by the director Yasujirō Ozu lately. When I first watched an Ozu movie, I wasn’t too impressed by this “master of cinema” but the more I watched, the more I enjoyed it and now he’s one of my favorite directors. Ozu utilized the same actors for many of his films and when one appears on the screen for the first time in a film it’s like an old friend has come for a visit. I love that.
Today I watched “An Autumn Afternoon / 秋刀魚の味” (1962) and think it may be my favorite Ozu movie. There’s a special charm to the visual aesthetic of 1960s Japan that I am attracted to, and this film has plenty of images of the era to admire. It’s fun to see!
I used the very natural dialog of Ozu movies as data for my dissertation. I loved the glimpses into life in Japan back then.