The End Of Summer

Another Ozu film. After our confused experiences of 'Tokyo Story', and our gradual enjoyment of 'Good Morning', we now feel we are really starting to enter into the greatness of Ozu's work.
The static cameras, the way the characters talk directly facing, all has a certain effect. It requires a thoughtfulness of the viewer not just intellectually, but also an engagement with the worker aesthetically and thematically. When the film appears not entirely natural, almost spaced out (but not quite) in its manners and pace, this is merely a recognition of the pace of life. And then, of course, it all passes in a flash, and all is gone.
The style and the lengths still take a certain amount of getting used to. An unthinking cynic would accuse it at times of slipping into over delicacy. Yet, we feel we have left the departure gate of this stage.
The Japanese style of 'mono no aware' ('the transient nature of things') is to the fore, with quiet moments that do not so much pack a punch, but gently unfold their truths across time. Ozu's films aren't about linear narrative or explanations. They're about watching the films across their timescales (no one scene can be abstracted) and understandign how this is the nature of things, this is not an explanation, but it is a reality). The same actors remain calm or otherwise, the breaks being extra affecting. When a line is allowed that expresses in some way the understanding of the situation, it largely avoids coming across as didactic. Instead, it just emphasises the clearness of the piece.
Certain scenes at the end, with the weight of the previous film behind them, have an entirely immanent grandeur. We shall have to re-watch and watch more of Ozu's work, to fully enter his world. For now, we are not only starting to enjoy his films, but strating to understand why we do so, as well.