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YASUJIRO OZU - Director & Screenwriter
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Admired by many of the world’s leading directors, including Martin Scorsese and Wim Wen-
ders, for his humanist tone and trademark cinematic style, Ozu’s films are frequently to be found
in filmmakers’ and critics’ Top 10 Best Films lists. In a career which spanned 35 years - from his
1927 feature debut 'The Sword of Penitence' to 'An Autumn Afternoon' in 1962 - Ozu made a
total of 53 films, 2 of which, his late colour masterpieces, FLOATING WEEDS (1959) and THE
END OF SUMMER (1961) are featured here in brand new prints, as a tribute to mark the legend-
ary Japanese filmmaker’s 100th anniversary. In the early days Ozu’s work was little known
outside Japan. However, with the success of recent cinema retrospectives and increased
availability on video and DVD, his films have become widely appreciated around the world. |
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KENJI MIZOGUCHI (1896 - 1956) - Director
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One of the greatest artists of Japanese cinema, and one of its earliest filmmakers, Kenji Mizo-
guchi began his directing career in 1923. Although he made over 85 films in a career which span-
ned more than 30 years before his death in 1956, over 50 of them have been lost, primarily
through studio fires, war damage and poor film preservation.
Born in Tokyo, Mizoguchi developed a passion for painting whilst working as an apprentice in a
kimono textile designers. After graduating from art school, he took a job as an actor at the Nik-
katsu Studios in Tokyo, before he began directing in 1923. Bringing a rich, almost textual realism
to the cinema, Mizoguchi's film bear a palpable sense of atmosphere, incorporating all elements
of design from the meticulously detailed mise-en-scene and intricate sound and lighting design to
the long and sweeping camera movements.
Tackling difficult social themes straight on, Mizoguchi's unflinching realism portrays the personal
dramas within these fully detailed historical settings. His one abiding theme was a sympathy for
the exploited and marginalised members of society, in particular the plight of women and their po-
sition in Japanese society (drawn in part from the personal experiences of his sister and mother).
Mizoguchi became known as a 'feminist' director, with films like THE LIFE OF O-HARU and THE
LADY OF MUSASHINO, yet his sympathies were tempered by an ambivalent and observational de-
tachment towards these 'fallen' women. After winning the International Director's Prize at the
1952 Venice Film Festival for his late masterpiece, THE LIFE OOF O-HARU, Mizoguchi became
an idol for the French New Wave, praised by Godard and Rivette as the 'Master of Mise-en-
Scene'.
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