Several days ago I saw a perfect print provided to the PFA by the Japan Foundation, with benshi Midori Sawato accompanying. The performance, of course, was exquisite, if sedate in keeping with the film and Ozu's reputation. Whether by chance or ingenuity the PFA placed Sawato on a raised platform, so you couldn't look at her face without also seeing the film, or the film without seeing her. Her male intonations, though with at least no obvious satire, rival those of Laurie Anderson or Lily Tomlin. But I've been wondering what on earth to say about Ozu. He hadn't discovered yet his low camera angle, and the pacing's not quite as slow as it would become. I'm afraid all that's stayed with me that anyone else might not say, is that, perhaps oddly for a film about a typical family of four, Ozu's camera again and again frames groups of three. I can't remember whether he does this later. Maybe Ozu just liked an image size that makes three optimum. Already, without the formality to come, his frame was beginning to solidify. Don't know. Something to think about is all.
Review of I Was Born, But...
