Zen and 'cultural studies' group-think

[Rochelle Wong]

Some members have suggested researching whether or not Zen has had  a direct 
influence on a director. With reference to Ozu - Kristin Thompson's 'Late 
Spring and Ozu's Unreasonable Style' in 'Breaking the Glass Armor: 
Neoformalist Film Analysis' has a quote by Ozu saying...

"They don't understand - that's why they say it is Zen or something like 
that."

This is useful evidence against claims of Zen in Ozu's films - although no 
citation exists for this quote. Has anyone seen this source elsewhere?

Arguing for religious contexts (among others) existing in Japanese film is a 
bold and dangerous move. Informed by postcolonial frameworks - one becomes 
wary of 'occidentalism', and at the same time one feels the necessity to 
include Japanese cultural reference at a certain given point lest one is 
guilty of cultural imperialism.

I agee with those members advocating Japanese film criticism - but in the 
wake of a lack of translated works in English, how does one deal with this 
dilemma (for those of us unfamiliar with the language)  Any responses 
welcome.

Rochelle Wong

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