Ozu\u27s Tokyo Story

Ozu\u27s Tokyo Story is generally regarded as one of the finest films ever made. Universal in its appeal, it is also considered to be \u22particularly Japanese.\u22 Exploring its universality and cultural specificity, this collection of specially commissioned essays demonstrates the multiple planes on which the film may be appreciated. Among the topics discussed are Ozu\u27s relationship to aspects of Japanese tradition, situating the film within artistic modes, religious systems and beliefs, and socio-cultural and familial formations; and an analysis of how Ozu has been misunderstood in Western criticism.http://digitalcommons.framingham.edu/books/1167/thumbnail.jp

The Films Of Fred Zinnemann: Critical Perspectives

Fred Zinnemann, celebrated director of such classic films as High Noon, From Here to Eternity, and A Man for All Seasons, is studied here in a book-length work for the first time. Zinnemann\u27s fifty-year career includes twenty-two feature films, which are characterized by an unshakable belief in human dignity, a preoccupation with moral and social issues, a warm and sympathetic treatment of character, and consummate technical artistry. In discussing such issues as the role of Zinnemann\u27s documentary aesthetic throughout his career, the relationship between his life and his art, his use and construction of history, and the central importance of women characters in his films, The Films of Fred Zinnemann lends new perspectives to the work of a major filmmaker and makes a significant contribution to the study of American cinema.http://digitalcommons.framingham.edu/books/1165/thumbnail.jp

Gazing at Kaoru: star image in film adaptations of The Dancing Girl of Izu

In star vehicles, such as the serial adaptations of Kawabata Yasunari’s The Dancing Girl of Izu, it is often the image associated with the lead actors/actresses that takes the position of organizing the traits of main character(s). This article examines how and to what extent the star images of the actresses Tanaka Kinuyo and Wanibuchi Haruko have informed the ‘drift’ of alterations to the source in their respective turns of stepping into the role of the eponymous dancing girl, Kaoru. Observing how elements of the star’s real-life persona sometimes crawl into the film will help us to reconsider how the negotiation arising from the problematic fit between a star’s image and narrative character can expand rather than contain the creative possibilities of adapting literary works to the screen