Ozu - Kathe Geist

Based on a close reading of Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu's extant films, this book provides insights into the ways the director created narrative structures and used symbolism to construct meaning in his films. Against critics' insistence that Ozu was indifferent to plot and unlikely to use symbols, Geist demonstrates otherwise, revealing the director's subtle iconographic paradigms. Her incisive understanding of the historical and cultural context in which the films were conceived amplifies her analysis of the films' structure and meaning.Ozu: A Closer Look guides the reader through Ozu's earliest silent films, his sound films made during the wartime period and subsequent American Occupation of Japan, and finally takes up specific themes relevant to his later, better-known films.