Yasujirō Ozu

Japanese · 1903–1963

Filmmaker whose serene domestic dramas, told through his signature low-angle "tatami shots" and rigorous visual grammar, revealed the profound depths of ordinary family life.

Wikipedia ↗

“人間の表面だけを撮ろうとしているが、その表面の最も深い層には、かなり普遍的なものがある。”

日本語

“I try to depict only the surface of human beings. But in the deepest layer of that surface is something quite universal.”

“I want to make people feel what life is like without delineating all the dramatic ups and downs.”

日本語

“無”

日本語

“Nothingness.”

A single character meaning "mu" (nothingness/void), central to Zen Buddhism. Ozu chose this as the only inscription on his grave.