U-M Center for Japanese Studies Fall Film Series.
This year’s film series features silent films by Yasujiro Ozu, aka Silent Ozu. With narration by benshi (Japanese silent film narrator) Ichiro Kataoka.
Sept. 14: The Cook (Fatty Arbuckle, 1918). Slapstick silent comedy that stars Arbuckel and Buster Keaton as the cook and waiter at a high-end restaurant. Preceded by Ozu’s 1932 short film I Was Born, But…, a bittersweet story about 2 young brothers whose faith in their father is shaken by what they perceive as his kowtowing to his boss. Michigan Theater. Tickets $15 (Michigan Theater members, sutdents, seniors, & vets, $7).
Sept. 21: Passing Fancy (Yasujiro Ozu, 1933). Silent drama about a widower who meets a destitute young woman and takes her under his wing. He falls in love with her, but she is in love with a younger man.
Sept. 28: An Inn at Tokyo (Yasujiro Ozu, 1935). An unemployed homeless man and his two sons encounter a woman and her daughter while wandering around Tokyo. As the kids play together, the parents feel a happiness they haven’t felt since childhood.
Oct. 5: Lady and the Beard (Yasujiro Ozu, 1931). Silent comedy about a young man who has difficulty making it in modern society until he does away with some of his old-fashioned ways, such as wearing an unfashionable beard. With music spun by DJ arwulf arwulf.
Oct. 12: I Flunked, But… (Yasujiro Ozu, 1930). Comedy about college students who cheat by writing notes on the back of their friend’s shirt. When the shirt is dry-cleaned, they flunk. With live music by keyboardist Stephen Warner.
Oct. 19: A Straightforward Boy (Yasujiro Ozu, 1929). Rarely seen fragment of this short silent comedy about a kidnapping. Much of the film is missing, including the middle scene where the kidnappers unsuccessfully attempt to return the boy they snatched. With live music by DJ Chris McNamara. Also, screening of The Kid (Charlie Chaplin, 1921), a silent comedy that stars Charlie Chaplin in his first feature as The Tramp and Jackie Coogan as a streetwise orphan he takes under his wing.
Oct. 26: Tokyo Chorus (Yasujiro Ozu, 1931). Silent comedy about a married man who faces unemployment after standing up for an older colleague.
Nov. 2: “Dragnet Girl” (Yasujiro Ozu, 1933). Silent drama regarded as Ozu’s version of an American gangster movie, about a gang leader who falls in love with the sister of a new recruit. With music spun by DJ arwulf arwulf.
Nov. 9: “Story of Floating Weeds” (Yasujiro Ozu, 1934). Drama about an aged kabuki actor who returns to a small town and reunites with a former lover and illegitimate son, enraging his current mistress. With live music by Frank Pahl.
Nov. 10: “Left Handed” (Laurence Thrush, 2001). Drama based on the Japanese concept of hikikomori (social withdrawal) about a teenage boy who refuses to come out of his bedroom or let anyone inside for two years. The film’s director and executive producer Takao Saiki will attend the screening.
.
7 p.m., U-M Natural Science Auditorium (except Sept. 14, Michigan Theater), 830 North University, use the entrance nearest the Diag. Free (except Sept. 14). 764-6307. [map]
