From his early silent films to his final features in the 1960s, Yasujiro Ozu perfected a style that stripped away unnecessary plot mechanics and camera movement. In doing so, he produced a cinema whose surface simplicity belies character studies of depth, warmth and on occasion, humour. This release features two newly restored films, presented on Blu-ray including a longer and previously unreleased version of There Was a Father.
I Was Born, But…(1932, 91 mins): as brothers Ryoichi and Keiji struggle to outwit the local bully and scale the pecking order in their new neighbourhood they find out that injustice does not end with school. Ozu's silent masterpiece prefigures themes from his later, colour classic Good Morning, but with a darker edge.
There Was a Father (1942, 93 mins): Shuhei Horikawa sacrifices his teaching career after an unfortunate accident but refuses to sacrifice the education of his only son.
