Yasujiro Ozu’s filmography was a blindspot for me personally until Landon and I explored the Sight & Sound Top 50 together. Falling in love with Tokyo Story was a key that unlocked a beautiful amount of movies hiding in plain sight. Not only is his name crossed off my list of shame, it’s been added to my list of favorite filmmakers.
Now, video essayist kogonada has explored a singular focal point of the Japanese master’s work: the hallway.
It’s a physical concept imbued naturally with the theme of “transition.” Passages can be ignored as background, shot poorly, or elevated as poetic examples that move us physically and emotionally from Point A to Point B. Ozu consistently achieved the latter, showing an obsession with passageways that kogonada captures with grace and simplicity. People are framed within frames gorgeously, and the juxtaposition of all of these scenes together acts like the cinematic version of lavender bath salts. A relaxing minute of watching the people go by.
This is an older video now (at 2 years), but it deserves fresh eyes ‐ as does Ozu’s filmography. [h/t Boingboing]
