Yasujiro Ozu

Yasujirō Ozu was a Japanese filmmaker who began his career during the era of silent films and continued to make acclaimed movies until the early 1960s. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential directors of all time, and his films are known for their distinctive style, themes, and aesthetics. Ozu's films often focus on the family and the relationships between the generations, especially in the context of modernization and social change in Japan. He also explored the themes of loneliness, alienation, and the transience of life. Some of his most famous films include Late Spring (1949), Tokyo Story (1953), and An Autumn Afternoon (1962). Ozu developed his own cinematic language, which was both conservative and radical. He used a low camera position, static shots, 180-degree cuts, pillow shots, and minimal camera movement. He also avoided fades, dissolves, and other transitions, preferring to use straight cuts. He rarely used music, except for the opening and closing credits. He also had a preference for using the same actors, such as Chishū Ryū, Setsuko Hara, and Haruko Sugimura, in many of his films. Ozu was also known by the pseudonym James Maki, which he used to sign some of his early scripts. Ozu died of cancer on his 60th birthday, and was buried at Engaku-ji Temple in Kamakura. His grave is marked by a single character, mu, meaning "nothingness".