The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 28 – Silent Ozu: Three Crime Dramas

David and Trevor dig into the newest Eclipse set, featuring a trio of repentant criminals seeking to mend their wicked ways.

This podcast focuses on Criterion’s Eclipse Series of DVDs. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each box and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this episode, David and Trevor discuss Eclipse Series 42: Silent Ozu – Three Crime Dramas

About the films:

The great Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu is best known for the stately, meditative domestic dramas he made after World War II. But during his first decade at Shochiku studios, where he dabbled in many genres, he put out a trio of precisely rendered, magnificently shot and edited silent crime films about the hopes, dreams, and loves of small-time crooks. Heavily influenced in narrative and visual style by the American films that Ozu adored, these movies are revelatory early examples of his cinematic genius, accompanied here by new piano scores by Neil Brand.

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Timeline for the podcast:

Introduction/Background (00:00:01 – 00:22:10)

Walk Cheerfully (00:22:11 – 00:51:19)

That Night’s Wife (00:51:20 – 01:17:24)

Dragnet Girl (01:17:25 – 01:37:34)

Conclusion (01:37:35 – 01:50:23)

Buy The Box Set On Amazon:

Episode Links:

Director Overview:

Ozu-san.com
Ozu page on Strictly Film School
An Introduction to Yasujiro Ozu on Open Culture
Great Directors: Yasujiro Ozu on Senses of Cinema
Ozu Archive on Observations on film art (David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson)
Discovering Ozu series on Arthouse Cowboy (Moisés Chuillan)
Criterion Collected podcast (Moisés Chuillan)

Box Set Reviews:

Slant review by Carson Lund
DVD Talk review by Matt Hinrichs
Pop Matters review by Michael Curtis Nelson
Parallax View review by Sean Axmaker
Disc Dish review by Ed Grant
J!-Ent review by Dennis Amith

Walk Cheerfully:

Ozu-san.com review
Sporadic Scintillations review by D.
Life in the Cheap Seats review by Webcowgirl
Ewan at the Cinema review by Ewan

That Night’s Wife:

Ozu-san.com review
Sporadic Scintillations review by D.
Cinema Talk review by Jake Savage
Films de France review by James Travers

Dragnet Girl:

Ozu-san.com review
The New Yorker review by Richard Brody
San Francisco Silent Film Festival review by Eddie Muller
The Most Beautiful Fraud in the World review by Kevyn Knox
Silent Volume review by Chris Scott Edwards
Senses of Cinema review by Freda Freiberg

Next time on the podcast: Eclipse Series 39: Early Fassbinder

Contact us:

Twitter
Email: theeclipseviewer (at) gmail.com
David Blakeslee ( Twitter / Website )
Trevor Berrett ( Twitter / Website )