that
around where I lived.
I used them as models
for my characters.
PASSING FANCY
Since the war,
you don't see people like that anymore.
The ones who used to wear kimonos
wearjackets and sneakers now.
Carpenters used to be neat and tidy.
Now they all look sloppy,
like they don't care.
Every house used
to have a small woodstove.
Everyone used to sit around it
in their underwear
drinking sake and eating chilled tofu.
It's different now.
People buy croquettes and rice.
AN I NN I N TOKYO
In 1 935, the depression lingered on.
Ozu looked at the unemployed,
society's ''floating weeds. ''
The film was An Inn in Tokyo.
Kihachi, the hero,
looks for a job, but to no avail.
''Father, you ought to use
a bigger glass.''
''There's more sake.
Don't worry.''
''Don't spill any.''
''Look, I found some money.''
''Let's let it blow away.''
''That felt good.''
Though the Kihachi series
is aimed at laughter,
the characters can't avoid
a certain bitterness,
which forces them
to adopt a defiant attitude.
My first job as assistant cameraman
was on the Ozu film Dragnet Girl.
KEISUKE KI NOSHITA - DI RECTOR
Ozu had already made
a number of fine films,
and watching them made me
want to make films myself.
I admired Ozu enormously.
I started working
under Ozu at the studio.
Our first shoot was near
Yamashita Park in Yokohama.
It was late at night.
This was in February,
and it was very cold.
Joji Oka and Kinuyo Tahaka
starred in the film.
I was surprised
by how hard the work was.
We worked until dawn,
and then we would shoot
until late at night in the studio.
Shooting on the set
was very difficult.
Ozu moved the props after every take.
There was a framed picture on the wall.
If you move something once,
it's not a problem.
But I couldn't help feeling
that it looked unnatural.
I thought, ''Won't it look strange
if this picture keeps moving around?''
Ozu would say,
''Just a little bit more.''
He kept looking
through the viewfinder.
Really, he just kept moving it
by fractions of an inch,
up and down, side to side.
''If filmmaking is this much trouble,''
I thought, ''I'm going to quit.''
I even phoned my family
to tell them so.
Did Ozu ever have any specific demands
for the art design?
TATSUO HAMADA -ART DI RECTOR
Well, we understood each other
without having to say anything,
so there wasn't any trouble.
His sets were mostly
Japanese-style rooms.
But he was very particular about what
you can see beyond the room, wasn't he?
For example, he was particular
about the way the back fence looked.
Yes, the shoji screen
was usually left open
so that the fence would be
visible in the center.
The average home
had a wooden fence
with boards that went from the top
down to the ground.
But the cheaper ones
had a space at the bottom.
Upper-class homes
had bamboo fences.
The higher the class,
the thinner the bamboo.
Only wealthy families
had fences like that.
So you used to set this camera
in this low position?
YUHARU ATSUTA - CINEMATOGRAPHER
This is a low-angle position.
We used higher positions
for shooting actors.
Ozu decided
on the composition himself.
The assistant cameramen
would unlock the camera like this
so it would move.
Then he would look?
Yes. I steadied it here.
So he would tell you
when it was right?
Yes. He'd determine the position.
Then I'd take over.
For example, I'd see if the screen
was out too much.
You mean like this screen,
for example?
Then I'd ask Ozu to take another look.
So he'd take another look?
Close the door a little bit.
That's how we worked.
Ozu didn't use low-angle shots
just for style.
KANETO SHI NDO - DI RECTOR
Ozu got to