I just went to this as well.
It is a really fantastic exhibition and any Ozu fans should definitely make
the trek to Yokohama.
While there is quite a bit of PR material that is available at any library,
at least half the objects are letters, postcards, and photographs. The
letters are accompanied by katsuji labels so you can actually read them—the
cursive brush or micro-characters make it tough going if you want to read
the handwriting.
Some of the things that struck me:
- Storyboards of his silent films show how completely self-conscious he
was about composition. I mean, it's clear from the films themselves;
however, to see how intricate the preplaning was was really impressive.
- The exhibition did not shy away from his wartime experiences. Indeed,
that section was one of the highlights of the exhibition. Moreover, they
didn't pull the punches. A large poster had a quote from Ozu's diary, which
went something like this: "We walked down a road toward the front and came
upon the bodies of both civilian men and enemy soldiers. A baby was sitting
in the middle of the road, with some stale bread around him. It was unclear
if one of the bodies was his father. We were marching in 4 columns, and
with complicated feelings the line of soldiers split into two, passing the
crying infant on either side. The landscape in the background was an
endless field of rapeseed flowers swaying in the wind. It was unbearably
cinematic, but everyone tried not to look."
- Another striking aspect of this section was Ozu's enthusiasm for the
war project. It's common knowledge that Ozu was in Singapore at the end of
the war, but the critical focus has always been on the way it gave him a
chance to watch American films (realizing they'd lose the war when he saw
Fantasia, etc.). But he was a real flag waver; his job there was the
preproduction on major kokusaku propaganda films. One project was *Burma**
Military Operation* (*Biruma sakusen*), which was to be shot on
location. The other was *To Delhi, To Delhi *(Deri e, Deri e). They also
displayed various magazine clippings that showed how the media made a huge
deal of Ozu joining the military. It was strikingly similar to the press
for Hollywood stars joining the military. Finally, they had two hand towels
that Ozu signed and designed toward the end of the war, and they were
rather shocking. One was a Japanese tank going over barbed wire. The other
had a drawing of what looked like the outer walls at Nanking and a couple
Japanese soldiers with the flag waving above. Ozu brushed 皇風万里 ("Thousands
of Miles Under the Benevolent Rule of the Emperor").
- Personal copies of scripts showed how he drew lines between utterances
on the page to split each actor's line into single shots. Fascinating.
- Various paintings and pottery that he loved and used in multiple films.
- Personal effects, clothing, desk, etc.——I was delighted to see he had
glasses virtually identical to my new specs!
- A handful of the diaries opened to specific pages. I've always been
struck by the brevity of the entries in the published diaries. Well,
the diaries themselves are the size of business cards!
- Okada Mariko will be appearing next week to talk about her appearances
in Ozu's last films.
It was wonderful, and will be ending soon. Run!
Markus
PS: As Lorenzo noted, all the labels are in Japanese. However, the entrance
has a handout that translates the big text introducing each section of the
exhibit.
PPS: There is a FANTASTIC catalog for this exhibit. Tons of photos that
give a good sense for what it is like.
---
*Markus Nornes*
*Professor of Asian Cinema*
Department of Film, Television and Media, Department of Asian Languages and
Cultures, Penny Stamps School of Art & Design
*Homepage: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nornes/
<http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nornes/>*
*Department of Film, Television and Media*
*6348 North Quad*
*105 S. State Street**Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285*
On Wed, Apr 5, 2023 at 10:58 AM Lorenzo Javier Torres Hortelano via
KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:
> Yesterday I visited this exhibition in Ozu’s life on the occasion of the
> 60th anniversary of his death: https://www.kanabun.or.jp/exhibition/17721/
>
>
>
> In general I am not a fan of memorabilia, but this is a very profuse and
> well-organized exhibition, with some photos that I had not seen, for
> example, several with his mother.
>
>
>
> The only downside is that the explanatory posters were only in Japanese
> —my fault…. I wonder that perhaps, in Japan, they still think of Ozu as
> someone who can only be liked by the Japanese...
>
>
>
> Best wishes,
>
>
>
>
>
> *Lorenzo J. Torres Hortelano *
>
> *Vicedecano de Investigación y Relaciones Internacionales*
>
> *Vice-Dean of Research and International Relations*
>
> Profesor Titular/Professor
>
> Facultad de Ciencias de la Comunicación
>
> Departamento de Ciencias de la Comunicación y Sociología
>
> Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
>
> Edificio de Gestión - Decanato
>
> Camino del Molino s/n, 28943 Fuenlabrada
>
> +34 91 488 73 11
>
> lorenzojavier.torres.hortelano at urjc.es | www.urjc.es |
>
> Lorenzo Torres Academia.edu <https://urjc.academia.edu/ljtorres>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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