The poet of family life Derek Malcolm A constant fixture in critic's polls, Yasujiro Ozu's most enduring masterpiece, Tokyo Story, is a beautifully nuanced exploration of filial duty, expectation and regret. From the simple tale of an elderly husband and wife's visit to Tokyo to see their grownup children, Ozu draws a compelling contrast between the measured dignity of age and the hurried insensitivity of a younger generation. The BFI is proud to release a brand new 4K restoration of this classic film, for audiences old and new to discover. Special Features: New 4K restoration Extras TBC ***FIRST PRESSING ONLY*** Fully illustrated booklet including an essay by Professor Joan Mellen and a biography of Yasujiro Ozu by Tony Rayns
From acclaimed Japanese master Yasujiro Ozu (Tokyo Story) comes this much loved family comedy. Shin Saburi plays Wataru Hirayama an old-fashioned father whose outwardly liberal views on marriage are severely tested when his daughter tells him she wants a love match. Outwitted and outflanked by his wily female relatives Hirayama stubbornly refuses to admit defeat. The director's playful use of colour poetry and arch humour combine to make this tale of old versus new at once deeply moving and razor-sharp. Also contains full length feature There Was a Father Ozu's powerful war-time drama as an extra.
Tokyo Story director Yasujiro Ozu's hugely influential and award-winning masterpiece Late Spring is a tender meditation on family politics sacrifice and the status quo. Noriko (Setsuko Hara) and her father Professor Somiya (Chishu Ryu) live together in perfect harmony but old certainties are put at risk when an interfering aunt raises the question of marriage. Introducing Ozu's popular Noriko character Late Spring poignantly examines the gradual compromise between modernity and tradition and is now available for the first time on Blu-ray from the BFI.
The film that made Ozu's reputation in the west (it was also a big hit in Japan) is plotted a little more schematically than most of his masterpieces but is nonetheless one of his most emotionally piercing films.
A bright Tokyo suburb buzzing with gossip and intrigue is the backdrop to world renowned Japanese director's Yasujir Ozu's outstanding comedy Good Morning. Disillusioned with the seemingly meaningless chatter of the adult world two brothers take a vow of silence when their parents refuse to buy them a television set. With its dexterously woven plot built on mishaps and misunderstandings Good Morning pokes fun at the silliness of everyday adult communication whilst gently acknowledging its fundamental necessity. Available on Blu-ray for the first time. Also contains full length feature I Was Born But... Ozu's superb early comedy as an extra.
One of the towering masterpieces of Japanese and world cinema, this three-part war epic has rarely been seen in the UK, at least partly because of its dauntingly gargantuan nine hour length. Director Masaki Kobayashi (Harakiri) was attracted to Junpei Gomikawa s source novel because he recognised himself in the character of the protagonist Kaji, an ardent pacifist who came of age during the aggressively militaristic 1930s and 40s. In part one, No Greater Love, Kaji is relocated to a mine-supervising job in Manchuria, where he is horrified by the use of forced labour. Part two, Road to Eternity, sees him conscripted into the Japanese army and forced to fight in the name of an aggressively imperialist cause. Part three, A Soldier s Prayer, deals with the consequences of Japan s defeat, not least for Kaji himself. Throughout, Kobayashi unflinchingly examines the psychological toll of appallingly complex decisions, where being morally right risks outcomes ranging from ostracism to savage beating to death. As Kaji, Tatsuya Nakadai (Sanjuro) is in virtually every scene, providing a rock-solid emotional anchor and a necessary one in Japan, where the film was hugely controversial for being openly critical of the nation s conduct during WWII. But it s this willingness to confront national taboos head-on that makes it such a lastingly powerful experience. SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS: High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation Original Japanese mono soundtrack Optional English subtitles Introduction to the film by critic Philip Kemp Selected-scene commentary by Philip Kemp Theatrical trailers Reversible sleeve featuring two choices of artwork by maarko phntm
When family friends and colleagues pressure Noriko - played with enigmatic brilliance by Setsuko Hara (Tokyo Story Late Spring) - to marry they provoke a surprising decision with wide-reaching consequences. Available for the first time on Blu-ray Yasujiro Ozu's Early Summer is wonderfully poised ensemble work which presents the intricacies and contradictions of three generations who have lived through the end of an era and are looking towards the new.
Yasujiro Ozu's captivating final film An Autumn Afternoon displays the master director's skills at their consummate best. Ozu regular Chishu Ryu (Tokyo Story) plays Shuhei Hirayama a concerned father eager to find a husband for his faithful daughter Michiko (Shima Iwashita) before she sees out her days caring for him. A cast of colourful characters weave seamlessly in and out of the story highlighting themes of loneliness and fear for the future with deep poignancy and ironic humour. Ozu's rarely-seen post-war film A Hen in the Wind (1948) is also included here. In a Japan recently devastated by WWII a devoted but near destitute mother waits for her husband's demobilisation. When her son falls seriously ill she turns to prostitution to pay his hospital bills.
Five of iconic film director Wim Wenders' key documentaries collected together in Wenders Classics box set packaging with new bonus features and an exclusive limited edition collector's booklet. A must-have for Wenders fans. Nick's Film: Lightning Over Water: In 1979 award-winning German filmmaker Wim Wenders travelled to New York City to make a movie with legendary American auteur Nicholas Ray as he lay dying of terminal cancer. Surrounded by family and friends the director of such Hollywood classics as Rebel Without a Cause Johnny Guitar and They Live By Night reflects on a career of triumphs and compromises as he faces his final days with hope humour and the fierce independent spirit that defined his greatest works. Together Ray and Wenders create a film that is more than a documentary telling an extraordinarily moving story about collaboration that goes beyond friendship and ultimately a life in cinema that transcends death itself. Room 666: The year is 1982. Filmmakers across the globe converge on the south of France for the Cannes Film Festival the industry's most prestigious annual event. One by one they are led in to the cramped confines of Room 666 at the Hotel Martinez and forced to answer a difficult and engaging question: What is the future of cinema? The directors become the subject when some of the film's greatest visionaries bare their souls and wax romantic about the fate of moviemaking. Steven Spielberg Michelangelo Antonioni Werner Herzog and Jean-Luc Godard headline an all-star cast of auteurs in this eclectic documentary by acclaimed director Wim Wenders. Tokyo-Ga: Oscar-nominated director Wim Wenders turns his camera toward the Far East in this captivating love letter to the world's most bustling metropolis. Using the films of director Yasujiro Ozu as a window into the Tokyo landscape Wenders examines the sociology of Tokyo in both the past and present in an effort to understand the evolution of Japan's national identity. Highlighted by an interview with fellow filmmaker Werner Herzog Tokyo-Ga is a fascinating amalgam of personal experience and global introspection that aims to question the meaning of nostalgia in a city that thrives on change. Notebook On Cities And Clothes: In 1989 the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris asked director Wim Wenders to create a film about the world of fashion. Initially resistant to the idea Wenders soon became fascinated by the craft and philosophy of Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto as he prepared his new season's collection. From the streets and studios of Tokyo to the boulevards and catwalks of Paris Wenders uncovers the essence of Yamamoto's work while exploring the enigma of style the language of images and the very nature of human identity. The result is an extraordinary examination of both fashion and cinema as a way of life carried along only by unique vision and vivid curiosity. A Trick Of The Light: Long fascinated with the ever-changing culture of world cinema exploratory director Wim Wenders pays a visit to his alma mater in an effort to recreate the magic and wonder of film in its most infantile state.
A collection of classic movies from lauded Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu. Regarded by many as the world's finest director and renowned for his formalist style Yasujiro Ozu made his first film in 1927 and went on to direct 55 films before his death in 1963. It was only during his final years however that his genius as a film-maker was recognized in the West alongside such contemporaries as Buuel Bergman and fellow countryman Akira Kurosawa. This box set features three works b
Floating Weeds is one of the final films directed by the legendary Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu. A remake of one of his own silent features it tells the story of a travelling Kabuki acting troupe led by Komajuro who arrive in a small coastal town. There Komajuro is reunited with his former lover Oyoshi and their illegitimate son who is unaware that the itinerant actor is his father. But the reunion provokes the jealousy of Sumiko Komanjuro's current mistress who plots a devas
A collection of classic movies from lauded Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu. Regarded by many as the world's finest director and renowned for his formalist style Yasujiro Ozu made his first film in 1927 and went on to direct 55 films before his death in 1963. It was only during his final years however that his genius as a film-maker was recognized in the West alongside such contemporaries as Buuel Bergman and fellow countryman Akira Kurosawa. This box set features three works
Late Autumn (aka: Akibiyori): Ayako Miwa (Yoko Tsukasa) gives up thoughts of marriage in order to care for her widowed mother Akiko (Setsuko Hara). However Akiko wishes her daughter to marry even though she will be left alone into old age and when the well-meaning relatives of her deceased husband step into the fray suitors are simultaneously sought for both generations of the Miwa family! An Autumn Afternoon (aka: Sanma No Aji): Widower Shuhei Hirayama (Chishu Ryu) gradually comes to realize that his 24 year-old daughter should not be obliged to look after him for the rest of his life and so prepares to arrange a marriage for her.
The film that made Ozu's reputation in the west (it was also a big hit in Japan) is plotted a little more schematically than most of his masterpieces but is nonetheless one of his most emotionally piercing films.
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