The Ozu Collection: Three Melodramas Review

• 27th Jun 2012

Melodrama is not something one associates with master Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu. He is usually associated with gentle domestic dramas centred on either marital problems/struggles or generational differences to the point where the viewer hardly realizes anything is going on. Collected on this latest addition to BFI’s ongoing plan to release all of the Ozu films extant are three films, or the nearest to which can be considered melodramas. Contained on the disc are: Woman of Tokyo (1933) a late silent film and two films made in succession: Early Spring (1956) and Tokyo Twilight (1957).

The first film, Woman of Tokyo is a quick and snappy melodrama made in just a few days and quick in length at a snippy 45 minutes. This is most definitely Ozu’s most melodramatic film coming out after he had been making a succession of student set comedies (some of these have also recently been released by BFI). Given that it followed a bunch of comedies this film is fairly jarring as it is a vey dark drama about a student struggling to get through his exams. Meanwhile, his devoted sister works at an office all day to provide for him, cooks his meals and is secretly working at night in a cabaret as an escort. Rumour spreads that this is what she is doing and when word gets back to the brother what she does for a living he reacts with tragic results. This is a very different film for Ozu and not really what one would expect from him; but then again many of his early films did deliver surprises.

The other two films on the disc were made for other reasons. Following the success of Tokyo Story in 1953 (considered by many to be one of the best films ever made) and a few films following this, Ozu’s films were starting to be considered dated and as a result the film company who made his films, Shochiku were asking him to compete more with Hollywood films (these were the years in which Douglas Sirk was making some pretty heady melodramas). Ozu was always compliant and agreed. However on seeing the result in Early Spring was not perhaps what the studio had in mind. A lot goes on in Early Spring even though it moves at a very genteel pace. There is infidelity, arguements, the breakdown of a marriage, indecision and even a suicide but it moves at such a slow and gentle pace that we are hardly aware of this. The lead actor Chikage Awashima seems to wear these troubles on his shoulders despite his youthful looks and haircut. Running at 144 minutes (24 fps but at 139 minutes on this 25fps PAL DVD transfer) this was Ozu’s longest film. Revered in Japan it was not so well received in the West probably due to its long running time and slow pace. Never the less it is a superb, rewarding and intelligent film which had taken Ozu three years to make.

The director followed Early Spring with Tokyo Twilight continuing his own indomitable approach to melodrama. Here he reunites Setsuko Hara and Chishu Ryu from Tokyo Story (Ryu appeared in nearly all of Ozu’s films after 1933) in his bleakest drama. It is perhaps no coincidence that this was also the director’s last film he made in black and white (he made 6 films in colour before his final film in 1962). It goes even further than Early Spring, in that it also has an extra-marital pregnancy, suicide attempts and domestic violence and for a western audience it certainly is a very engaging film. Following this and the use of colour in his subsequent films, Ozu never really went back to this kind of bleak drama. It is very nourish intone and style and certainly more than stands up against anything coming out of Hollywood at the time. If you haven’t discovered Ozu yet, these would be good if not representative as an introduction.

As with other releases in the series, as well as excellent transfers, there is a superb book with short essays on each film and an introduction essay which breaks down the melodramatic content in Ozu’s films and puts these into context.

Chris Hick