April 27th Log

THE ONLY SON
1936, Yasujiro Ozu, Japan
Repeat Viewing, DVD

Yasujiro Ozu's first talkie film was made well after the development of sound and in many ways the emotions of the film are expressed like that of a silent film (which is mostly through images over dialogue). This is one of Ozu's most melodramatic films and thematically it is very definitive of his most well known family relationships (in this case mother and son). The Only Son is an incredibly moving and bittersweet film as Ozu again details the inevitable disappointment of life and his general philosophy of acceptance towards it. The film does leave hope and certainly you can see that the Mother has great reason to be proud of her son. Yet in Ozu fashion the Mother and Son hold back their feelings. The mother is very proud of her son, but she is still left sad and possibly regretful only because she is concerned that her son is not happy. The Only Son is an early Ozu masterpiece and among his most emotionally involving. The Only Son captures much of the mastery of simplistic and poetic visual composition, as well as an effective use of "pillow-shots", and also a beautiful homage to the 1933 German film Lover Divine. Powerful and insightful Ozu's transition into the sound era stands as an unforgettable achievement.

>>> More on The Only Son @ A2P Cinema's Yasujiro Ozu website HERE

>>> Here is a clip of the poetic final sequence from The Only Son: