Silent Ozu—Three Crime Dramas
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Synopsis
The great Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu is best known for the stately, meditative domestic dramas he made after World War II. But during his first decade at Shochiku studios, where he dabbled in many genres, he put out a trio of precisely rendered, magnificently shot and edited silent crime films about the hopes, dreams, and loves of small-time crooks. Heavily influenced in narrative and visual style by the American films that Ozu adored, these movies are revelatory early examples of his cinematic genius, accompanied here by new piano scores by Neil Brand.
Picture 5/10
The 42nd Eclipse release from Criterion’s Eclipse line presents three silent crime films from Yasujiro Ozu made between 1930 and 1933. The set includes the film Walk Cheerfully, That Night’s Wife, and Dragnet Girl. All three films get their own single-layer DVDs and are presented in the aspect ratio of 1.33:1.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the three films are in fairly rough condition. Both Walk Cheerfully and That Night’s Wife present the most damage, littered with mold and scratches, which get incredibly heavy at times, completely obliterating the image in a few instances. Scratches are a constant nuisance, as are splices, frame jumps, jitters, and more. They’re constant and the damage is pretty much always there. Unfortunate but I don’t know how likely these issues could have been repaired without ultimately damaging the image. Surprisingly the two films still manage to come off fairly sharp. Detail isn’t superb, but the image is rarely hazy at least.
Dragnet Girl is in the better shape of the three films. Damage is still an issue but it’s not as heavy, and mold is certainly not as big an issue. It has its own issues, though, primarily in the fact it’s the haziest and softest looking of the three films. Contrast also seems a little more blown out here in comparison to the other films in the set.
Thankfully the transfers themselves are solid, not adding to the issues. The transfers work to deliver the films as best as they can, and compression isn’t a real problem, just what can be expected from the format.
In the end I’m not all that surprised and was pretty much expecting what we got. The damage is heavy, and the first two films in the set are in very rough shape, but I’m still happy to get these films on DVD, and the digital transfers themselves are at least excellent, not adding any more problems to the image.
Audio 8/10
All three films are silent but we do get stereo tracks presenting scores by Neil Brand. Since they’re newly recorded they don’t present any real problems. Range is excellent and overall quality is clean.
Extras 2/10
Like other Eclipse release there are no supplements other than the usual notes by Michael Koresky, found in the liners of each DVD case. Again, like his other ones, they offer an excellent primer on the films and the period in Ozu’s career.
Closing
It’s great to get these three films but no one should be surprised by the rough condition that the source materials are in, nor should they let that dissuade them from picking this up. The transfers themselves are at least solid, presenting the films in the best possible way they can and for that the release still comes with a high recommendation.
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