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

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 )