Yasujiro Ozu

He was born in Fukugawa, Tokyo and educated at a boarding school in Matsuzaka[?]. He worked briefly as a teacher before returning to Tokyo in 1923 to join the Shochiku Film Company[?]. Initially a cameraman, he worked as an assistant director within three years and directed his first film in 1927, Zange no yaiba. He went on to make a further 52 films, 21 in his first five years as a director. During WW II he served in China.

He started out making distinctive comedy films before moving onto more socially aware works in the 1930s, concentrating on family dramas. He worked with Kogo Noda[?] on fourteen of his post-war films. His films were most favourably received in the 1950s with works such as his considered masterpiece Tokyo monogatari (1953) and Ochazuke no aji (1952), Soshun (1956), Ukigusa (1959) and Akibiyori (1960), his last work was Sanma no aji (1962).

As a director he was eccentric and a perfectionist. He was seen as one of the most Japanese directors and as such he work was only rarely shown outside of his home country, certainly before the 1960s. He did not use sound until 1936 or colour stock until 1958. His personal shot was one taken from only three or so feet from the ground, a viewpoint of a person on a tatami. He was also strongly in favour of static camerawork and careful composition where no single actor would dominate a scene.