Presented for the first time in the Bay Area, this series of Ozu films from the 1930s represents aspects of Ozu's work not generally seen in his better known postwar films: comedies about college life, serio-comic tales of the Great Depression, and crime melodramas influenced by the American gangster films of the early '30s. Most of the films are silent--Ozu did not begin making sound films until 1936--and all have English subtitles with the exception of two films for which David Bordwell provides live translation. Also included in the series are two postwar films rarely seen in the U.S.
Early Ozu is presented in association with the Japan Film Center, New York, with special thanks to David Owens of the Japan Society for providing notes on these rare films. The Series is made possible by the generous cooperation of Pinewood Foundation, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Kawakita Memorial Film Institute.
