I watch a lot of films; it is part of my work. But I only recently stumbled across those of Ozu. I've now seen nine or ten and I've been blown away. Ozu was a genius. He did something that I've not seen any other director do; he captures the most important moments in people's lives in a realistic fashion. There is a real fly-on-the-wall character to his films, yet he does this in such a way that you genuinely feel like you are intruding on private and personal moments. There are none of the acting-up for the camera or false histrionics that we've got so used to in documentaries. In fact, these are peaceful, superficially mundane stories that somehow get to the very core of humanity. Tokyo Story and Late Spring are excellent films, but to my eyes Early Summer is the greatest. I have never seen such a human dilemma (a daughter leaves home leaving her parents both disappointed that they will no longer have her company and yet proud and relieved that she is getting on with her life) so beautifully and poignantly portrayed. If push comes to shove, I might say that this is the greatest film of all-time.
Review of Early Summer
