Suicide off the Edge of Explicability: Awe in Ozu and Kore'eda

• Published in: Film history (New York, N.Y.) Vol. 14; no. 2; pp. 158 - 165
• Main Author: LaFleur, William R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sydney John Libbey Publishing 01.04.2002; Indiana University Press
• Subjects: Artistic Representation (Imitation); Awe; Buddhism; Criticism and interpretation; Death; Feature films; Film directors; Japanese Cinema; Japanese culture; Kore-Eda, Hirokazu; Koreeda, Hirokazu; Koreeda, Hirokazu (1962- ); Mono no aware; Motion picture directors & producers; Motion pictures; Motion pictures, Japanese; Movies; Narrative Style; Ozu, Yasujiro; Phenomena; Philosophy; Portrayals; Poverty; Religion; Religious aspects; Suicide; Terminology; Zen Buddhism; Japan
• DOI: 10.2979/FIL.2002.14.2.158
• ISSN: 0892-2160

The work of Japanese filmmakers Yasujiro Ozu and Hirokazu Kore-Eda are examined in terms of Buddhist concepts. Frequently compared to Ozu, Kore-Eda makes films that open forward into an attitude of awe before the immensity and mysteriousness of the universe and all the particulars within it. An unmoving camera induces a stance of contemplation, one that respects and relishes what may forever remain unknown in things. The stance is one that becomes satisfied with no need to "break through" the world of phenomena to locate some entity that lies somehow beyond the penumbra of the known. Kore-Eda's "Maboroshi no hikari" is discussed in light on these concepts.