BFI The Ozu Collection: Three Melodramas DVD Japanese

The BFI presents three films by Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu.

Melodrama is not a word usually associated with Ozu's quietly poetic oeuvre but his post-war Early Spring (1956) and Tokyo Twilight (1957) combine darker elements with his idiosyncratic style to create powerful dramas.

Woman of Tokyo (Tokyo No Onna) sees Ozu experimenting with the cutaways that would become so associated with his later style. Chikako (Yoshiko Okada) works hard to pay her brothers Ryoichi’s (Ureo
Egawa) college fees, but disaster looms when he learns the true nature of her work.

Early Spring (Soshun) was made after Ozu's masterpiece Tokyo Story (1953). The film focuses on the problems of young salaried workers. Shoji (Ryu Ikebe) and his wife Masako (Chikage Awashima), struggle with a family tragedy. When Shoji's interest turns to the office flirt, the couple's fragile peace is threatened.

Tokyo Twilight, (Tokyo Boshoku), Ozu's last black and white film, is a masterpiece of atmospheric chiaroscuro. Abandoned by their mother, sisters Akiko (Ineko Arima) and Takako (Setsuko Hara) live with their father Shukichi (Chishu Ryu). When Akiko falls into desperate trouble, she turns away from her family.