BFI: 32 Ozu Films

[CrazedCollector]

Also, there's a very welcome bonus on this particular release (i.e Late Spring/The Only Son), which is that both films are included in 1080p on the Blu-ray.

Looks like you made a liar out of Amazon.co.uk's product description:

Contains full length feature The Only Son, Ozu s first sound film, as an extra (DVD only)

[Michael Kerpan]

In a nutshell, Tokyo Story is the Criterion transfer (the booklet confirms this), while Toda Family is the same transfer as released by Panorama, though the subtitles are in better English.

Why would Panorama's transfer have been used, rather than the somewhat better Shochiku transfer the Panorama one was derived from? (Ditto, for Tokyo Story -- where the Shochiku transfer was less "manipulated" than the Criterion one).

[MichaelB]

Why would Panorama's transfer have been used, rather than the somewhat better Shochiku transfer the Panorama one was derived from? (Ditto, for Tokyo Story -- where the Shochiku transfer was less "manipulated" than the Criterion one).

Sorry, I wasn't clear - I meant that the BFI's Toda Family is clearly from exactly the same source from which the Panorama transfer was also derived. Which would logically be Shochiku.

And I wouldn't read too much into the BFI using Criterion's HD masters - as the discussions over Red Desert and The Leopard reveal all too clearly, individual labels apply their own digital post-production to the same ideally unadulterated master telecines. So the "manipulation" you're complaining about may not have been present on the original HD master.

This is speculation, though - I don't have the Criterion DVD for comparison purposes.

[MichaelB]

I've just posted framegrabs from Early Summer and What Did The Lady Forget?

[Tommaso]

At first glance, the "Early Summer" caps look far less contrast-boosted than the CC disc. I hope for a Beaver comparison soon, but I have a good feeling here so far.

[Svevan]

I'm not sure there's much of a difference between the Crit and the BFI, on SD at least. Looking forward to some Blu caps from Beaver. I'm sure that BFI fixed that terrible Audrey/Katherine mistake in the subtitles, though.

[MichaelB]

I'm sure that BFI fixed that terrible Audrey/Katherine mistake in the subtitles, though.

I don't have the Criterion, but if you give me a few more clues, I'll check and confirm.

[Svevan]

Oh gosh, I don't have the Crit either - there's a scene between Setsuko Hara's boss and her best friend, in his office, roughly an hour and a half or so into the film. The friend mentions that Noriko (Hara) is a fan of Katherine Hepburn (I believe the dialogue just says "Hepburn" leaving out the Christian name); the Criterion subtitles added "Audrey" for no good reason. I believe Michael Kerpan pointed out in the Early Summer thread that Japan was not interested in Audrey Hepburn at the time of this film's release, but that Katherine Hepburn was a major star - also it just makes more sense, given the context of that conversation and the decisions of the Noriko character.

[MichaelB]

Verbatim transcript from the BFI Blu-ray:

Boss: Has she ever been in love?

Friend: I don't think so, but she used to have an album of Katharine Hepburn photos this thick.

Boss: Who's Hepburn?

Friend: The American actress.

Boss: A woman?

Hope that answered both your question and your concern. For the record, just the surname is actually uttered, so presumably the first name was added to the subtitle to make it clear which Hepburn was being referred to (Audrey was a good couple of years off stardom when Ozu made the film).

[Michael Kerpan]

Katharine Hepburn would have been well known in late 40s Japan (her late 30s work would only have shown up after the war-- when Japanese theaters were temporarily inundated by Hollywood films in the early days of the occupation), but probably was never quite as iconic as Bette Davis and Joan Crawford had been in the pre-war era. Japan would have first been smitten by Audrey Hepburn in the wake of Roman Holiday (1953).

Setsuko Hara WOULD later channel (at least a bit) Audrey Hepburn in Naruse's 1960 "Musume Tsuma Haha" (Daughter, Wife, Mother or maybe -- less likely-- Daughters, Wives, Mothers, but never Daughters, Wives and a Mother, except in the minds of nutty American title mis-translators). She had a short hair cut -- and had to engage in smooching for this. And this had the sort of romantic renunciation one found in a certain AH film.

My favorite Setsuko Hara channeling job, however, was her evocation of Rita Hayworth in Oba's 1948 Typhoon Woman.

[Jonathan S]

Was MGM's Dragon Seed (1944) ever released in Japan? Kate plays 1930s Chinese peasant Jade Tan heroically defending her village against the invading Japanese...

[Svevan]

Thanks for the info MichaelB. You're making my mouth water for these Ozu Blus, right when I can't afford it. Very much appreciate the screencaps too. And thanks, as always, Michael Kerpan.

[MichaelB]

And here are screengrabs for Late Spring and The Only Son.

I'm flying to Poland tomorrow, and won't be back until the 18th (i.e. the day before release) - so if you have any questions whose answers require access to the discs, you'd better post them over the next 18 hours or so.

[manicsounds]

'Dragon Seed' has never been released in Japan. It's not listed on official filmographies it seems. Movies that haven't been released in Japan seem to have no existence in official filmographies, strangely. Like Paul Schrader's "Mishima", or The Coen Brothers' "A Serious Man"....

[Michael Kerpan]

Was MGM's Dragon Seed (1944) ever released in Japan? Kate plays 1930s Chinese peasant Jade Tan heroically defending her village against the invading Japanese...

Possibly not-- not sure whether films like this would have been shown as part of the immediate post-war flood of Hollywood movies. This would not have had much audience appeal.(note: superseded by manicsounds post)

Setsuko Hara played a heroic Chinese girl (because she collaborated with the Japanese) in the 1939 "Shanghai Marine Detachment". Let's just say that Hara did not get sufficient coaching in Chinese diction. Not much of cinematic interest in this Toho patriotric potboiler.

[andyli]

Beaver has updated screencaptures for The Only Son and Late Spring in 1080p.

[MichaelB]

Beaver on Late Spring and The Only Son, with grabs from the Blu-ray transfers and the conclusion:

It should surely get many votes for Blu-ray of the year.

[ellipsis7]

LATE SPRING grabs are simply glorious... Ditto David's comments... Blu seems to bring out the dimensionality of Ozu's compositions, highlighting the dynamism of his framings, which, in comparison, DVD appears to flatten slightly...

[MichaelB]

Basically, it looks like a film print. I'm delighted that the amount of digital interference has been minimal, and I don't imagine for one second that genuine Ozu fans will complain about the scratches at all. Think MoC's City Girl and you'll be on the right track.

[Oedipax]

Wow. I wasn't planning on ordering these right away but after seeing the Beaver caps I had to indulge with Late Spring / The Only Son.

Ironically (given all the high-tech 'perfect picture' summer blockbuster style marketing) I find older films are some of the most stunning when properly presented on BD. There's just something special about watching City Girl or Stagecoach in 1080p that doesn't come across quite as much with contemporary films.

[Matt]

The thing that steams my hams is that these are (mostly) Criterion's HD transfers, yet Criterion sits on them while forcing BFI to region lock the discs. I know I should just get an Oppo or something, but I'm actually kind of sick of buying AV equipment right now.

[swo17]

If Criterion can be counted on for anything, it's releasing 20 Ozu films every year. I would assume these Blu transfers will all be coming shortly.

[Matt]

If Criterion were ever going to release The Only Son on Blu-ray, they would have done it today.

[Michael Kerpan]

I broke down and got the Sherwood BR player just so I could watch MOC's Ichikawa release and BFI's Ozu releases (and the UK Belle de jour). I didn't feel like waiting on Criterion to get around to Ozu on BRD (which could be a long wait indeed).

[MichaelB]

And I in turn will probably go multiregion later this year, but I have to say that if I was forced to pick one region at present, I'd probably stick with Region B at the moment. There've been surprisingly few Region A exclusives that I've seriously regretted not being able to play - I even have most of what's on Criterion's The Red Shoes thanks to the ITV release and the old Criterion DVD (yes, I know the Criterion transfer is supposedly fractionally better, but I don't have a twelve-foot projection setup).