Yasujirô Ozu and the Western film - a comparative analysis

• Applicant: Dr. Andreas Becker
• Subject Area: Theatre and Media Studies
• Term: from 2014 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 238861754

The study develops an exemplary comparative aesthetics of film based on Japanese director Yasujirô Ozu's (1903-1963) work. It has a two-fold goal: an analysis of both the preconditions of Japanese film in terms of the tradition of Japanese visual culture and the intercultural cross references of Ozu's films to other international film traditions. The thesis is that Ozu¹s films are characterized by their intensive consideration, citation and selective adoption of Western stylistic features (e.g. those of Hollywood films). Although literature about Ozu does contain plenty of hints (Bordwell 1988; Richie 1974), hardly any study has yet followed them. This gap should be closed. I want to show that this aesthetic method can only be comprehended comparatively (Simon 2000; Elberfeld/Wohlfahrt 2000; Pfeiffer 2008a; 2010; Mitchell 1994b). Existing approaches to comparative aesthetics will be subtly extended and combined with the methods and knowledge developed within film scholarship. The study begins with a necessary re-reading and reassessment of the scholarly literature about Ozu (chapter 1) and discusses the cultural premises of the work (chapter 2). The central Chapter 3 follows with a concrete stylistic analysis, in which Ozu's work is divided into four periods of creativity so as to demonstrate how Ozu consistently positioned himself differently in the context of global cinematography. The final chapter 4 investigates the reception of Ozu's aesthetics in an international context. The study exemplarily develops a strategy of interpretation that can be adapted to other cinematographic traditions and can help describe the cultural globalization methodically.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants