ABSTRACT BY VOLKER PANTENBURG

 

There are few directors who are as celebrated for their sensitive depictions of the quotidian as the Japanese Ozu Yasujiro (1903 to 1963). Sleeping, getting up and performing the daily morning routines, preparing tea or eating a meal, waiting for the train to commute to the office – in Ozu’s films, these routines are not only elements required to provide a background for narration; they are the very substance of his films, resulting from a unique combination of objects, gestures, and a carefully chosen set of filmic gestures. One is tempted to see a specific filmic grammar at work, but at the same time, Ozu’s practice escapes all attempts at categorization and formalization. 

In my presentation, I want to revisit some of the domestic places and spaces in Ozu’s work and look at their astonishing richness – mundane, but magical, crystal-clear and enigmatic at the same time. The work of film historian Helmut Färber and his detailed studies on Ozu will be my guide.