BFI: 32 Ozu Films

[Peacock]

Apologies if I was unclear, I wasn't suggesting to change the title of the film on the cover/adverts/back/disk art etc from how it is commonly known, but for the subtitles on the actual film itself during the opening credits to accurately subtitle the words and then add the American title in brackets afterwards in case someone gets confused.

[MichaelB]

Apologies if I was unclear, I wasn't suggesting to change the title of the film on the cover/adverts/back/disk art etc from how it is commonly known, but for the subtitles on the actual film itself during the opening credits to accurately subtitle the words and then add the American title in brackets afterwards in case someone gets confused.

Or, alternatively, put it in the booklet - the second paragraph of the main essay not only gives an accurate translation of the title but also explains in some detail what it means in a Japanese context (since it's meaningless to an unprepared English reader). Which seems to me to be a far more appropriate place to deal with contentious linguistic issues, because you can add explanatory detail in a way that you can't with subtitles - and the result is far less fussily pedantic.

[Peacock]

I think it's great that it's explained in the booklet; it isn't a case of one or the other though. And I'm not hoping for another repressing or anything here(!), just something to bear in mind for other future Ozu's - please include both titles in the subtitle of the main title in the film, or the English speaking audience are not getting the opening that the director intended, and the subtitle is not doing its job of accurately translating.

[MichaelB]

And I'm not hoping for another repressing or anything here(!), just something to bear in mind for other future Ozu's - please include both titles in the subtitle of the main title in the film, or the English speaking audience are not getting the opening that the director intended, and the subtitle is not doing its job of accurately translating.

But the English-speaking audience won't understand the original title without footnotes. They also won't get the "hamo/ham" pun later on, as it's similarly untranslatable without an elaborate explanation, which is why both the Criterion and BFI editions opt for an alternative that makes more sense in English (although they've come up with different solutions - Criterion opts for "seal" and "sea-eel", while the BFI goes for "perch" and "peach").

The challenge with subtitling films like these is to balance user-friendliness with accuracy - obviously, you want them to be as accurate as possible, but not if it means causing potential confusion of a kind that a Japanese viewer wouldn't experience. The differences between Japanese and English are such that even the most conscientious subtitler is going to have to compromise at quite a few stages.

[ellipsis7]

First indication of next tranche of BFI Ozu, it seems to be released on BR/DVD on 20th February 2012...

The extant 11min 22sec fragment of I GRADUATED BUT... has just been classified for BFI video by the BBFC...

Obviously there must be more in the pipeline to make up the package(s)...

[MichaelB]

The extant 11min 22sec fragment of I GRADUATED BUT... has just been classified for BFI video by the BBFC...

Already spotted.

[ellipsis7]

Apologies, indeed I see it now... Wonder if this will be the usual type of pairing of a silent and a sound film, or possibly some kind of multiple set of rare silents....

[rockysds]

"The Lady and the Beard" & "Days of Youth" also just passed by the BBFC.

[antnield]

...and I Flunked, But... and Where Now Are the Dreams of Our Youth?.

[Michael Kerpan]

Looks like a BFI Silent Ozu film fest is coming up -- but what about the sublime (but rather deteriorated) Tokyo Inn?

[knives]

Maybe that will be the main feature? I've been waiting to see that one forever.

[Michael Kerpan]

Maybe that will be the main feature? I've been waiting to see that one forever.

A careful Blu-Ray trasnfer of a sometimes-very-deteriorated print might be interesting to see. ;~}

[knives]

Absolutely. I don't think I've seen that before and it might be an interesting experiment on BFIs part. If having the problems exaggerated is the biggest worry I don't things could be as obvious as in a theatrical showing so if they do have an HD master I'd love to see how they handle that.

[MichaelB]

The recent BFI dual-format release of Jan Svankmajer's Alice features a 1080p transfer of the only surviving print of Cecil Hepworth's 1903 production of Alice in Wonderland among the extras. It's also on YouTube (albeit only in 480p), which should give you some idea of the extent of the damage.

[knives]

D'oh, I had forgotten that was in 1080. I'm definitely interested in more experiments like that.

[zedz]

A lovingly detailed representation of naturally decayed and distressed elements is vastly preferable to some of the digitally scrubbed and heavily processed HD abortions we've seen recently.

[antnield]

Silent Ozu (2xDVD, no further info) due Feb 20th.

[Michael Kerpan]

Silent Ozu (2xDVD, no further info) due Feb 20th.

Well, e know some of the stars....

Tokihiko Okada was in That Night's Wife, Lady and The Beard and Tokyo Chorus (plus some lost films).

Ureo Egawa was in Woman of Tokyo.

Ichiro Yuki was in Days of Youth and Fighting Friends (Japanese Style).

Tatsuo Saito was in lots of stuff -- including Days of Youth, Tokkan kozo, That Night's Wife, I Failed But, Lady and the Beard, Tokyo Chorus, and Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth.

[ellipsis7]

Well total R/T is 5 hours 57mins approx...

From the BBFC classification we have...

WHERE ARE NOW THE DREAMS OF YOUTH (82 mins)
I FLUNKED BUT... (62 mins)
THE LADY AND THE BEARD (72 mins)
I GRADUATED BUT... (11 mins)
DAYS OF YOUTH (99 mins)

That's 326 mins or 5 hours 26 mins total, leaving an unfilled (as yet) 30 mins - intriguing!...

[matrixschmatrix]

Oh, wow, I was assuming this would overlap significantly with the Criterion set- if not, that would be amazing.

[Michael Kerpan]

Woman of Tokyo is 47 minutes -- so that would not fit in the 30 minute slot. Ureo Egawa is also in Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth -- so his name on the list may (sadly) not indicate WoT is included.

The surviving remnants of Fighting Friends and Tokkan kozo probably add up to about 30 minutes.

[ellipsis7]

Yes, I'd love if it were WOMAN OF TOKYO, which I have yet to see, but eagerly anticipate... Sadly, as you say MK, it's probably no for now...

[Michael Kerpan]

That Night's Wife is about 65 minutes -- so that won't fit either. A set with this and Woman of Tokyo would make some sense.

[knives]

Hopefully it's not a misprint and we get some sort of extra, but even if it is that's an impressive lineup.

[antnield]

Some further info on the next set...

Silent Ozu is incorrect; it should be The Student Comedies. The two discs are as follows...

Disc One
Days of Youth (1929, 99 mins)
I Flunked, But… (1930, 63 mins)

Disc Two
The Lady and the Beard (1931, 72 mins)
Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth? (1932, 82 mins)

Plus I Graduated, But... (1929, 11 mins) and a new featurette in which Tony Rayns discusses Ozu’s early career.