BFI: 32 Ozu Films

[swo17]

If they changed this title they'd have to change Early Summer, End of Summer, and Autumn Afternoon as well

[hearthesilence]

I've always hated The Puppetmaster for Hou Hsiao-hsien's 戲夢人生, especially when the horror franchise that was already titled that will pop up instead when you do a search. At minimum, they should add a parenthetical title of Also Like Life or Dream Life when it finally gets re-issued in the U.S.

[Michael Kerpan]

swo17 -- Also Late Autumn (Lovely Autumn Day/Fine Autumn Weather or something of that sort).

[pistolwink]

If they changed this title they'd have to change Early Summer, End of Summer, and Autumn Afternoon as well

Not necessarily... some of those titles are vaguely in the ballpark, at least in terms of what they might evoke, while "Record of a Tenement Gentleman" is just an out-and-out mistranslation that makes no sense applied to the film it names (it also sounds like a Gilbert & Sullivan lyric). Also, again, those films (well, at least Early Summer and Autumn Afternoon) are reasonably well known under those names, having had some real distribution theatrically and home video, while Nagaya shinshiroku is practically unknown except to Ozu die-hards.

I've always hated The Puppetmaster for Hou Hsiao-hsien's 戲夢人生, especially when the horror franchise that was already titled that will pop up instead when you do a search. At minimum, they should add a parenthetical title of Also Like Life or Dream Life when it finally gets re-issued in the U.S.

I recall reading that it was Edward Yang who gave some of Hou's films their English titles. Not sure about that particular one, but I recall that being the case for The Time to Live and the Time to Die, which I've long felt was a clunky title (esp. the inapposite Biblical reference, see also Dust in the Wind) compared to the more modest, and more literal, Childhood Memories.

[hearthesilence]

Dust in the Wind is another that has some unfortunate baggage tied to American culture. I never liked the music from the band Kansas, but when I was growing up, I felt like that song got a lot of "classic rock" play, and it was used prominently in a tongue-in-cheek TV commercial that aired for a long time.

But aside from those two films, it's interesting if the English titles were picked out by Yang just as an interpretive element to think about - a little bit like seeing Godard making trailers for other filmmakers.

[pistolwink]

Yang definitely picked English titles for his own films that weren't usually direct translations but instead reflected a different motif or theme of the films. Although Yang was fluent in English, I feel like he had something of a tin ear for English-language titles.

[Cash Flagg]

The Three Films by Ozu set has been 3rd-party only at Amazon since (or right after) release - does anyone know the story?

[fdm]

If it's their UK website, and you are not in the UK, that seems to be the way they often do things these days.

[TMDaines]

The Three Films by Ozu set has been 3rd-party only at Amazon since (or right after) release - does anyone know the story?

Annoying we in the UK cannot order virtually any Blu-ray releases from Amazon UK to UK addresses, and that has started happening for Amazon DE too.

[filmyfan]

Two more Ozu being released in April

I Was Born, But... / There was a Father

https://shop.bfi.org.uk/two-films-by-ya ... u-ray.html

[ryannichols7]

and Adrian Martin is doing tracks for both films, truly excellent. so with this release, the Japanese box of the five films they put out last year is unnecessary for the English-friendly buyer. I don't see the BFI re-releasing titles like Early Summer or Late Spring that they already released on BD (albeit with older transfers), but I do really hope Ozu has been successful enough for them to release Early Spring and Tokyo Twilight, neither of which they ever put on BD initially. granted, there are English-friendly releases from Shochiku, but both films can use some extras and insight

I have been surprised to not see David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson not called in for any of these releases. and obviously the wish is that the BFI could release the Toho (The Munekata Sisters, The End of Summer) and Kadokawa (Floating Weeds) titles, all of which have new 4K restorations, but no English subs to be found. but that's a tall order I'm sure

[TMDaines]

If one was finally to get round to buying and watching some Ozu, are we best just buying the recent, 2020 and later releases of the two individual films, the 3-film, and the 2-film sets, then waiting for the older titles to be reissued?

[Maltic]

I have been surprised to not see David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson not called in for any of these releases.

Bordwell has been battling cancer, I believe.

The other grand old emeritus would be David Desser, but there's plenty of capable people around these days, surely. And so far, I'm not complaining, with the Martin commentaries.

[andyli]

the wish is that the BFI could release the Toho (The Munekata Sisters, The End of Summer) and Kadokawa (Floating Weeds) titles, all of which have new 4K restorations, but no English subs to be found. but that's a tall order I'm sure

With BFI getting Toho's Floating Clouds and Carlotta releasing Kurosawa UHDs, I don't think Toho's new restorations are that out of reach for Western labels anymore. Kadokawa's known to be more cooperating. For example, BFI has dealt with them before for the Ichikawa and Arrow the Masumura's.

[Blip Martindale]

Two more Ozu being released in April

I Was Born, But... / There was a Father

https://shop.bfi.org.uk/two-films-by-ya ... u-ray.html

I'm unclear if this version of I Was Born, But... is a new restoration, or new scan, or in any substantial way different than the version on Criterion's Good Morning disc?

[Matt]

The disc info does say “two newly remastered films” as well as “newly restored” but no details beyond that. It seems like they’re only putting out new restorations with the Ozus, which explains the rather haphazard and frustrating “3 by” and “2 more by” selections.

[tenia]

Well, they could have directly gone with "5 by"...
Anyway, There Was A Father is a recent 4K restoration by Shochiku and is a longer version than the previous HD restoration thanks to censored propagandist scenes having been retrieved on a Russian print, while I was born but should also be the most recent 4k restoration.

[Blip Martindale]

Thanks Matt & Tenia.

It's kind of amazing how imprecise most labels can be when writing the ad copy for these discs. It's not like they're selling them to unsuspecting rubes, they must know (or do they?) their audience is partially if not largely tech-savvy, or at least interested enough to note such facts and do some investigation. And they must be aware that at least a small percentage of buyers are region-free, and are judging their discs against existing product from other labels. Half the time it actually seems like the labels are obfuscating whatever info they have.

Still, it's OZU, so I'll buy the dumb thing regardless. Maybe that's what they count on? Suckers like me.

[tenia]

I actually doubt the majority of buyers are tech-savvy. I mean, even on dedicated boards, most people aren't (or only know very superficial things).

[MichaelB]

Full specs announced:

TWO FILMS BY YASUJIRÕ OZU
I Was Born, But…
There Was a Father

Released on BFI Blu-ray on 15 April 2024

From his early silent films to his final features in the 1960s, Yasujirố Ozu perfected a style that stripped away unnecessary plot mechanics and camera movement. In doing so, he produced a cinema whose surface simplicity belies character studies of depth, warmth and on occasion, humour. This latest release of his work from the BFI features two newly restored films, presented on Blu-ray, I Was Born, But… and a longer, previously unreleased version of There Was a Father.

I WAS BORN, BUT… (1932, 91 mins)
As brothers Ryoichi and Keiji struggle to outwit the local bully and scale the pecking order in their new neighbourhood, they find out that injustice does not end with school. Ozu’s silent masterpiece prefigures themes from his later, colour classic Good Morning, but with a darker edge.

THERE WAS A FATHER (1942, 93 mins)
Shuhei Horikawa sacrifices his teaching career after an unfortunate accident but refuses to sacrifice the education of his only son.

Special features
• Newly restored and presented in High Definition
• Newly recorded audio commentaries on both films by writer and film critic Adrian Martin
•  ***First pressing only*** Illustrated booklet with essays by Bryony Dixon and Tony Rayns, and by Ed Hughes who composed a new score for I Was Born, But… ; credits

Product details
RRP: £24.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1504 / U
Japan / 1932, 1942 / black and white / 91 + 93 minutes / Japanese with English subtitles / original aspect ratio 1.33:1, 1.37:1 // BD50: 1080p, 23.98fps, 2.0 stereo, LPCM 1.0 mono audio (48kHz/24-bit)

[manicsounds]

Rewind DVDCompare review of Two Films by Ozu

[Stefan Andersson]

Rewind DVDCompare review of Two Films by Ozu

Thank you very much for this!

An excellent read, with a description of the restored scenes in There Was a Father.

[Roscoe]

The new 4K restoration of I WAS BORN BUT... was screened at the San Francisco Silent Film last weekend. It is gorgeous, crystal clear, and it was curious that it was completely un-announced by the Festival as being a 4K restoration.

[Orlac]

Does anyone have a list of all the films in last year's Ozu retrospective?