INTRODUCTION that the filmmaker is a rational, intentional agent, we can put poetics at the center of any study of a film's social context. All this sounds dauntingly abstract, I know, but discussion of these concepts will emerge piecemeal in the course of this study, and the films will illustrate them concretely.'* A historical poetics reveals some fresh arguments about Ozu. Closely scrutinized, his films turn out to be far less alike than people usually think; to have a greatervariety of subject and theme than is frequently granted; to be less concerned with psychological verisimilitude than most critics suggest. Placed in a social context, the films are less indebted to Japanese aesthetics and Zen Buddhism than to a vibrant popular culture and, more indirectly, to ideological tensions. Approached as formal constructs and dynamic systems in process, Ozu's works can be seen to engage the spectator on many levels, both narrative and stylistic, in a fashion that is unique in the history of cinema. Thus the theory is used to produce new knowledge of Ozu's work, but from another angle his work becomes an occasion to test the theory itself. The format of this book reflects an attempt to analyze and explain the functionings of Ozu's films. The first part constitutes a survey. Two orienting chapters sketch out Ozu's career and describe some pertinent contextual norms. More detailed chapters follow; they analyze the materials and formal processes of the works, drawing on examples from Ozu's entire career. The part ends with a wide-ranging discussion of some social and historical functions of the films. The book's second part consists of a chronologically ordered series of critical analyses of all of Ozu's films. This section embodies the theory 'in practice'while affording an antidote to offhand generalization. The discussion of each film is detailed, but for reasons of space each essay has been confined to a few pages. An appendix supplies some quantitative data about the films, and a bibliography lists important sources. I have aimed to make this book a resource for Ozu admirers, but I also contend that these films are of major importance for any thinking about the nature of fictional cinema. Some housekeeping notes remain. Japanese names are presented in English order, with given name first and family name last. (So: Shiro Kido, not Kido Shiro.) For ease of printing, the transliteration of Japanese words omits all macrons. I refer to recent historical periods by Japanese imperial epochs: the Meiji era (1868-1912), the Taisho era (1912-26), the Showa era (1926 -present). Films by Ozu are cited in the text by their most common English titles; the original Japanese titles will be found in the filmography. Literary works and films by other directors are cited by Japanese title first, followed by an English translation; subsequent mentions use the latter title. The shot lists provided within the text employ these abbreviations: els (= extreme long shot), Is ( = long shot), mls ( = medium long shot), pa (plan-americain, or the knees-up framing), ms (= medium-shot), cu (= close-up); ET ( = expository title), DT (= dialogue title);fg (= foreground), bg ( = background). I have tried to keep footnotes to a minimum, and most are citations rather than amplifications of a point. The bibliography lists works for further reading as well as sources I have found useful in studying these very unconventional films. * Notes are to be found at the end of the volume, beginning on p.379. 2