Declaration of ignorance: this is the first film by Ozu I've seen (and while I'm not unwilling to see more, I doubt I'll go out of my way). I gather all his films have much the same style. Every shot is taken through the same lens, by a stationary camera which is always placed in the same position relative to the actors (knee-level, by the looks of it). The result is that we see simple, square image after simple, square image until we forget that there's any other kind.
I disapprove of this on principle. Even if this technique works in a single film it's surely too limited to build an entire career out of. And how well can it work in even a single film, with the camera is so resolutely idle? It looks to me as if Ozu's dogmatism condemns him to a career of minor creations.
And that's what `Higanbana' is, although I'm bound to say that it's a GOOD minor creation. The story is a kind of `Guess Who's Coming to Dinner', involving a decidedly liberal father who's shocked to the core when he finds HIS daughter wants to marry a stranger and is prepared to do so without his permission - although he comes around in the end, of course. That's about it. But despite the absence of story and the static images, the film doesn't move slowly, or not unpleasantly so. `Leisurely' is the word I'd use. It's a very easy film to like. You'll probably find yourself interested in the characters despite everything; failing that, if you're a Westerner, you'll get an agreeably strong dose of culture shock in an intelligible form.
I disapprove of this on principle. Even if this technique works in a single film it's surely too limited to build an entire career out of. And how well can it work in even a single film, with the camera is so resolutely idle? It looks to me as if Ozu's dogmatism condemns him to a career of minor creations.
And that's what `Higanbana' is, although I'm bound to say that it's a GOOD minor creation. The story is a kind of `Guess Who's Coming to Dinner', involving a decidedly liberal father who's shocked to the core when he finds HIS daughter wants to marry a stranger and is prepared to do so without his permission - although he comes around in the end, of course. That's about it. But despite the absence of story and the static images, the film doesn't move slowly, or not unpleasantly so. `Leisurely' is the word I'd use. It's a very easy film to like. You'll probably find yourself interested in the characters despite everything; failing that, if you're a Westerner, you'll get an agreeably strong dose of culture shock in an intelligible form.