Tonight's Movie: In Search of Ozu (2018) on FilmStruck

As regular readers are aware, earlier this year the FilmStruck streaming service expanded its offerings from foreign, indie, and Criterion Collection films to also include a "TCM Select" line of rotating classic films from the Warner Bros. library.

In all honesty, while it's attractive, FilmStruck hasn't been something I "need," simply because of my extensive personal film library, including many Criterion Collection films. However, I'm interested in things the service provides which aren't available elsewhere, such as the attractively curated collections of titles with brand-new FilmStruck intros by hosts such as Alicia Malone, Eddie Muller, and Ben Mankiewicz, and more importantly, long-form programming which can only be found on FilmStruck.

The new documentary IN SEARCH OF OZU (2018), about the great Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu, is a terrific example of the kind of unique presentation which could cause me to become a permanent FilmStruck subscriber. I activated my free month-long trial this weekend in order to watch this documentary, which I understand is currently only available on FilmStruck.

IN SEARCH OF OZU was written and directed by Daniel Raim, who was also behind the excellent documentary HAROLD AND LILLIAN: A HOLLYWOOD LOVE STORY (2015).

Filmed in Japan last year, the 46-minute documentary explores carefully stored museum pieces from Ozu's films, using them as the springboard to consider his career, particularly the color films made in the latter years of his filmography.

The film's consideration of graphic design and the use of color in these films is fascinating; while he variously had art and set decorators and production designers, to a large extent Ozu served as his own production designer, influencing the look of his films in countless ways. He was much more than a director; he was a visual stylist.

Ozu designed and handwrote many of the title sequences for his films. He hand painted some of the cups seen in his movies, which still exist today, and coordinated wardrobes to complement carefully chosen posters and artwork. Ozu also personally designed the street signs for businesses such as the bars his characters frequent.

One of the museum treasures we're shown is a beautiful red tea kettle chosen by Ozu; it's jokingly referred to as the "teleporting tea kettle" because of the way it randomly turns up in various shots.

Another fascinating artifact was the "crab legs" low tripod from which he shot so many low angle scenes.

After collaborating with others on scripts, Ozu would write the complete movie scripts out in notebooks using handwritten Japanese characters; he then color coded the pages for different characters and to match numbered storyboards. Ozu would "see" a film more as a series of visuals than as written words; peeking into his creative process via these notebooks is quite fascinating.

The film has additional insights provided by Japanese film historians, along with Ozu's nephew and the producer of his last film, AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON (1962).

So that potential viewers understand what the film does and doesn't cover, the film touches briefly on Ozu's personal life, particularly his close relationship with his mother, and discusses in efficient fashion how his career evolved over the decades, but it's not an in-depth look at his complete career; for example, it doesn't delve into Ozu's longstanding collaborations with actors like Setsuko Hara and Chishu Ryu, and it doesn't review most of his films in extensive detail. And since the focus is on Ozu's use of color and design, his black and white films are only mentioned briefly.

That explained, IN SEARCH OF OZU does an excellent job keying viewers in on some of the things which made Ozu's films so memorable and visually striking. My favorite Ozu films are his color films, for just this reason, so I particularly appreciated and enjoyed the documentary. I highly recommend it both for those who already love Ozu and those who are just discovering his movies, as it provides a guide to interesting aspects to watch for in his films.

A clip from the documentary may be seen at the Criterion site.

Regarding the FilmStruck service, I'm not sure if it was a transient issue or something more problematic, but I did have trouble streaming FilmStruck on my TV via my Roku, as it constantly paused to buffer. After 15 minutes of interruptions I switched to watching the documentary on my iPad and had no problems at all.

For those wishing to try FilmStruck, visit the FilmStruck website to sign up for a free two-week trial subscription. The regular monthly fee, including TCM Select films, is $6.99; adding the Criterion Channel brings the monthly cost to $10.99. For those willing to make a long-term commitment, the annual fee of $99, including the Criterion Channel, saves subscribers $32 per year.

For related links, here are my past reviews of Ozu films: LATE SPRING (1949), EARLY SUMMER (1951), TOKYO STORY (1953), EQUINOX FLOWER (1958), GOOD MORNING (1959), LATE AUTUMN (1960), and THE END OF SUMMER (1961).