This year is the 120th anniversary of the birth of Ozu Yasujiro (1903-1963)。Beginning of the year,The Japanese film industry arranged screenings of Ozu films、Seminars and other series of activities,To commemorate this director who is revered by the Japanese as the "God of Movies"。From "On a whim" (1933) to "A Taste of Saury" (1962),Ozu and app bet365 download are inseparable。In the past 30 years of creation,Many of his films set in app bet365 download,From the streets and alleys、Ordinary people set off,By visiting relatives and friends、Daily events such as weddings and funerals create the most Japanese humanistic context in modern cities。Ozu uses his own wisdom、Poetic and peaceful cinematic expression presents a clear picture of Japanese culture and aesthetics,Let the audience see the importance of class in family stories、Society、The face of app bet365 download amid institutional changes,Completed the carving and recording of the transformation process of modern cities from a traditional Eastern perspective。
Ozu’s indissoluble bond with app bet365 download
A creator is usually influenced by his growth and living environment,app bet365 download is such a place to Ozu。December 12, 1903,Ozu Yasujiro was born in a middle-class family in Fukagawa, app bet365 download,When Ozu was 11 years old, he moved with his mother to his father’s hometown of Mie Prefecture,And my father stayed alone in app bet365 download doing business,Until his father brought Ozu back to app bet365 download once he became an adult。This kind of experience of being far away from app bet365 download,Ozu has had a special feeling for app bet365 download since he was a child,And will accompany him like a shadow in his future creations。
Ozu grew up in a large courtyard in Fukagawa, app bet365 download,There are many craftsmen in the surrounding environment,This makes him familiar with the individual living conditions and human conditions of the lower class society in app bet365 download。1933,Ozu made his masterpiece "On a whim",In this 100-minute black and white silent film,Ozu used app bet365 download as the background of his story for the first time,Tells the story of Kihachi, a grassroots man living in a slum in app bet365 download and his son dependent on each other。Life at the bottom is always similar,Ozu in a familiar life field,Did not deliberately create a sense of suffering and tragedy,On the contrary, he accurately captured the comic life passages in the lower society,Let the actors use comedic movements,Make the audience realize the bitterness and helplessness of the lives of the people at the bottom while laughing。This is such a moving and energetic handwriting,Make the audience unforgettable,From then on Ozu began to emerge in the Japanese film industry。
Ozu fell in love with movies as an adult,His mother asked someone to introduce him to Songzhu Film Company,Start from working as a chore on the crew,Eventually became a well-known director in Japan。Ozu is undoubtedly lucky,And he was even more fortunate to be born in a merchant family,Father's ups and downs in the business world made Ozu soberly aware of the cruelty of a big city like app bet365 download。"Only Son" filmed in 1936 was Ozu's first talkie film,The story is about a widowed mother who sold her belongings to send her son to school in app bet365 download,I hope my son can get ahead,In the end, I had no choice but to accept the fact that my son was just a tutor at a night school in app bet365 download。The sadness of the mother in "Only Son",The old fathers from Onomichi in "app bet365 download Story" (1953) also have a deep understanding。They all thought that their children would do something great when they came to app bet365 download,But in the end, I found that my children were just workshop foremans or street doctors。In Ozu’s movies,People living outside app bet365 download always have longing and admiration for this city,Those elders who silently bear the heavy life always think that app bet365 download is a place of hope、Ideal City,As long as I think my children can live in app bet365 download,There will be many expectations for a better future。However, under the "siphon effect",Influx of large population,Making app bet365 download full of pressure for employment and survival。"app bet365 download Chorus" (1931) After Okajima was fired, he could only send flyers to his teacher's curry restaurant,Making a living;Chikako in "app bet365 download Girl" (1933) still has a hard life despite having two jobs,To make money for my younger brother to study,Forced to choose to sell one’s body。Many ambitious young people come to app bet365 download,I realized that reality is far less fulfilling than ideal,They can only live in cramped and cramped houses,Working in a dead-end job,The protagonists in Ozu’s app bet365 download images are often microcosms of their real lives。
As a creator,Ozu has always maintained his gaze on app bet365 download’s social landscape and urban life,Although he never works on solving any problems,I never comment on what I see,But we can feel Ozu’s special feelings for the city of app bet365 download,This includes Ozu’s infinite affection for his hometown,There is also a sense of loss and helplessness about the gradual unfamiliarity of app bet365 download, which is undergoing rapid change。
Ozu-style app bet365 download Love Story
Reviewing Ozu’s creations,The app bet365 download city under the gaze of his aesthetic system often has the characteristics of rapid industrialization,But the cultural temperament inside is Eastern calm。Kihachi takes his son to find a job in the movie "app bet365 download" (1935),There are only a few factories along the way,Oil barrels piled messily,Chimney with thick smoke;The dense housing in the city in "app bet365 download Story",Interlaced wires,The tall chimneys in the distance are still smoking;There is a similar scene in "The Taste of Saury",All these industrial elements are imprinted in Ozu’s app bet365 download Story,Reveals the rapid development of app bet365 download as a big city,At the same time, this development will inevitably have an impact on Japan’s traditional society。The elderly parents in "app bet365 download Story" come to app bet365 download,Busy children have no time to accompany them;The father in "The Taste of Saury" is afraid that he will become a lonely loser like Dan Piao and is eager to marry his daughter。Such passages point to the alternation of old and new orders in the process of industrialization,The change between tradition and modernity,In app bet365 download’s overall urban transformation,Japan’s traditional family system eventually inevitably collapsed,Until a new family is restructured,Return to calm。
Presentation of the image of app bet365 download in Ozu’s films,The more important part is that it is deeply rooted in social politics、Japanese life in the context of culture and industrialization。He used his own technical means to complete the interweaving of many aspects of life,Gives people a sense of calm,This is inseparable from the low-angle photography used by Ozu。This technique is called "tatami photography",Achieved by placing the camera at the height of a Japanese tatami bed。This choice of camera position is like the eyes of a bystander sitting in the room,Always calmly stare at the protagonist’s life,At the same time, it also conveys an oriental sense of stability。The daughter’s wedding scene in “A Taste of Saury” didn’t have a single line of expression,The camera in the corner of the room just calmly records the father standing on the tatami and the bride kneeling on the tatami,In this important ritual moment of human life,The camera completes a visual presentation of blood and family ties that is different from Western society。
Ozu rarely moves the camera,He thinks that the movement of the camera will destroy the composition of the picture,It will also destroy the real-life environment。Static properties in his camera,Exhibiting an extremely peaceful tolerance,Also put forward higher requirements for Ozu’s photographic screen structure,Ozu’s advantage is that he is good at setting up geometric spaces,For example, the unique wooden square structure of app bet365 download residential buildings is often used,Create a natural field of view for the video。In "app bet365 download Twilight" (1957),After sister Akiko commits suicide,Sister and father are discussing the future life in the room,My sister decided to take her children back to her husband,And bid farewell to his father。Characters talking in architectural space despite being filled with sadness,But it’s like being locked in a delicate frame and motionless,Accept everything calmly。
The calmness of app bet365 download in Ozu’s films,It is also inseparable from his narrative choice,He is paranoid that if a movie has too much drama or plot,That’s not a good movie。The app bet365 download stories in Ozu’s films are always extremely simple,He abandoned Hollywood drama and narrative coherence,Instead let the structure of space and time create its own value,To record calmly in a quiet and contemplative way,His goal is usually to grab the audience's attention,Instead of driving the narrative。Ozu is accustomed to lingering on the details of daily life,In fact, it is "free" from the usual expectations of important narrative space。Famous film critic Stanley Kauffmann,1943-2012) said: "Just as a composer uses rests or stops in a chord,Ozu inserts a section of railway track after a busy scene,A slowly passing boat or the hallway of a house,These shots give us time to chew more deeply on what just happened,And calm it down。”In app bet365 download’s rapid urban development,Ozu is slow and restrained in the time and space of app bet365 download Story,Hidden within is the aging of life、Depression and the collapse of the family system,Although not tender,But calm。
The illusory scenery of app bet365 download
In the documentary "Searching for Ozu" (1985),The famous German director Wenders said very strongly: Ozu’s app bet365 download no longer exists,There is no pure place in app bet365 download now,There is no pure scenery,Looking for these,Let’s go to space。The disappearance of scenery in Wenders’ argument,Means under the profound influence of capitalist globalization and the comprehensive and lasting control of the United States after World War II,The old social order and cultural traditions of app bet365 download in Ozu’s movies have long been lost,Completely modernized、Capitalized。Tadao Sato, a Japanese expert on Ozu, once said: "When Ozu was alive,app bet365 download is already a very noisy city。Only through his photography,Shows a calm side,Ozu expresses his ideals。”From the perspective of modern urban development,The app bet365 download in Ozu’s films may never have appeared,He is just in the world of the movie,Using his own methods to construct a unique app bet365 download scenery - an artistic reality with a strong sense of reality。
app bet365 download scenery constructed by Ozu,On the one hand, it is a confrontation against American colonial rule and cultural invasion in Japan。In his final work "The Taste of Saury",He uses the characters’ mouths,Sighing that today’s young people have become admiring foreigners,To listen to American records、Dance American dance to be fashionable。He uses creative techniques that are different from American movies to present the image construction of app bet365 download city,Expressed his determination to adhere to the expression of traditional Japanese culture。On the other hand,Ozu is always full of affection for things that are about to disappear,Even though he realizes that the city of app bet365 download in his movie will no longer exist,People will no longer look like the characters in his movies,Express feelings restraint and implicitly,He is also willing to let time freeze,To examine the city that is undergoing drastic changes and the gloomy moments that cannot be avoided in individual lives。This is considered "mono mourning" in Japanese culture,It is interpreted as: a sentiment for the fleeting things and the emotion for the constant and natural things。Ozu believes in moments like this、Such a story is touching,This is also the key to the long-lasting appeal of his works。Ozu has said many times: My theme is "mono-sorrow", a very Japanese thing,No matter how noisy the world becomes,"wusai" or human warmth will never change。
Wenders said: "No one can bring a movie as close to its essence and purpose as Ozu,That is, providing a suitable solution for people in this century、True、Reasonable image,People not only recognize themselves in this image,What’s more important,He can understand himself more deeply from this image。”Watch Ozu’s app bet365 download images,Walking through Ozu’s app bet365 download scenes,We can’t help but imagine the social traditions related to this、Personal memory、Family History,Start thinking about life、Death、The deeper meaning of family,And through self-emotional recognition,In the end, we are willing to believe that Ozu’s app bet365 download scenery exists as real as that。His almost paranoid artistic expression,The long-gone app bet365 download scenery is carved into the image,Such meticulousness and sincerity,Will span time and geography,Let people who really love movies,Finally arriving at Ozu’s app bet365 download scenery,And moved by it。
(Author’s affiliation: School of Media and International Culture, Zhejiang University)
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