Two Films by Yasujiro Ozu (The Only Son / There Was a Father) (The Criterion Collection) [DVD]

This DVD is worth getting for There Was a Father alone. I had never seen this particular OZU movie and I thought it was wonderful. Certainly among his best, which is how some critics regard it. It is an extremelly moving picture about the bond between a father and his child. If you are a fan of Ozu and a Parent you will love it.

There are still three or four of Ozu's finest films that have yet been released to the West, "A Hen in the Wind" and "Green Tea Over Rice", to name two. So, we are grateful for these outstanding early "talkies" of his.They are both masterworks. Highly recommended.

TWO GREAT FILMS IN THE OZU STYLE...ALWAYS A TREAT.... BEAUTIFULLY PACKAGED...

A widowed high school teacher named Horikawa (Chishu Ryu) experiences a There Was a Fathertraumatic episode during a school field trip and consequently, decides to abandon his profession and move to a small town where his son, Ryohei may obtain a good education. However, unable to earn enough money to pay for Ryohei's boarding school, Horikawa decides to return to Tokyo to find a better paying job. The separation between father and son would prove to be permanent and irreversible, as Ryohei completes his studies and becomes a schoolteacher in a rural province while his father continues to work in Tokyo. The film is a more sentimentally subdued - but nevertheless, affecting - quintessential Ozu home drama on parental obligation and the inevitable dissolution of family. At this juncture, Ozu's camera is more static and understated (similar to Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family), such as the repeated extended sequence of father and son fishing in synchrony at a lake: first, when Ryohei was a young boy, then later, as a grown man vacationing with his father at a resort.The Only Son is a quintessential Ozu home drama on the relationship between a widowed mother (Choko Iida) and her son, Ryosuke. Encouraged by her son's ambitious elementary school teacher (Chishu Ryu), the mother slaves at a silk manufacturing factory, sacrificing personal and financial comfort and security, in order to support Ryosuke's education so that he may grow up to be a "great man". Thirteen years later, she travels to Tokyo to visit Ryosuke and finds that that his once seemingly bright future has become quashed by limited opportunity and personal obligations. Alternately poignant, comical, and bittersweet, the film is a thoughtful exposition of Ozu's familiar themes of familiar estrangement and acceptance of life's inevitable disappointments.

THE ONLY SON.Film = 1.5 stars; restoration = 0.5 star. With films from Japan's "classical" era (roughly the first 65 years or so of the 20th Century) released by restoration labels, viewers often gets a red flag within the first few minutes. Sometimes even before the opening credits have ended. If little or no restoration has occurred, the restoration releasing label has obviously made the financial decision that the film is not worth spending much/any restoration resources on it. For this movie, the restoration warning banner can be seen flashing when the opening credits begin! The photoplay is the director's first sound film and was released in 1936 (seems like switching to sound was avoided until the studio finally put its proverbial foot down). The story is a typical tragedy from the midst of Japan's Great Depression: very sad with an even sadder ending. Two somber scenes especially seem to stand out. One is the first serious family discussion held right next to Tokyo's huge garbage incineration facilities. Another shows an uber sacrificing grandmother weeping while watching her first sound film--an untitled romantic fantasy in German. The grandmother character could also be weeping for the film she has been cast in (and the actress would certainly have sufficient reason to do so!) Acting is undistinguished and fairly mediocre (about a third of it is "back acting"), direction is exceedingly slow paced and often boring, sound and cinematography are hard to judge given the lack of restoration, music is note-by-note ripped off from Stephen Foster, and clotheslines with underwear (a director's fetish) are in full bloom (clothes never seem to dry, since they remain on the same lines and in the same positions for the duration of the film!). Although I try hard to stick to only reviewing the film as presented on a particular disc, this time out I feel compelled to at least mention the supplemental video segment consisting of two talking-head film scholars. They come across as hilarious (although they do not mean to be) as they go about studiously constructing the embellishment of nano fragments, trivia, and fantasies into a pile of words that metaphorically rivals fuji-san! Helps to lighten up the mega load of depression delivered by the movie! WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.THERE WAS A FATHER.Film = 0.5 star; restoration = zero star. The most deficient (or close thereto) Japanese movie to have survived from the 1940's and, perhaps, the most mediocre (or close thereto) surviving Japanese film from the first half of the 20th Century! Using the standard "restoration profitability early warning system," the opening credits are just starting when it becomes obvious that the restoration label holds the film per se and, hence, its commercial prospects in low regard and, accordingly, did not spend more than token resources (if that) to restore it. (Aside from possible test marketing, one has to wonder why this movie was even added to the label's video disc catalog!) The plot is thread bare and almost as old as the known universe (yet again we have one generation sacrificing just about everything for the benefit of the next one) and poorly written/developed. Further, the film lacks implementation skill in general and disciplined direction in particular. Actors deliver dull line readings while appearing disinterested with the entire undertaking (perhaps their thoughts were elsewhere like on being drafted in the midst of WWII?). Frequent use of "back acting" (photographing the actor's back while lines are delivered) actually serves to lower rather than compound the monotony! Quality of camera work and sound recording are just about impossible to judge given the submarginal quality of the original source material. Viewers (including native Japanese speakers) may become dependant on subtitles when trying to understand what is taking place on the screen. The extensive use of Western Japanese dialect(s) is a challenge. But the poor quality of the original voice recordings, mumbled deliveries, pronounced transfer/duplication artifacts, and substantial age-related audio deterioration render the dialog all but incomprehensible throughout the film. (Whomever authored the subtitles has a "golden ear" if the subtitles were based exclusively on what one hears [or does not hear--which is more often the case] on this video disc!) Keep your distance from this disaster! WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.