The Ozu Collection: The Student Comedies (DVD) two-disc four-film set

A collection of four-films from Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu as part of the BFI's The Ozu Collection.

Revered for his unique, poetic style, this 2-disc set brings together all of Ozu's surviving early student-genre silent comedies for the first time.

Days of Youth (Wakaki Hi) is Ozu’s earliest surviving film. It follows students Watanabe and Yamamoto as they unknowingly compete for the same girl.

I Flunked, But... (Rakudai Wa Shita Keredo) follows Takahashi, who finds a creative way to avoid doing his revision in this roguish comedy reminiscent of Harold Lloyd’s The Freshman.

In The Lady and the Beard (Shukujo To Hige), graduate Okajima finds his old-fashioned beard makes life difficult in a comedy exploring the tension between tradition and modernity.

Where Now are the Dreams of Youth? (Seishun No Yume Ima Izuko), scripted by Ozu’s long-term collaborator Kogo Noda, is a subtle shift from light to dark as Hirano’s carefree college life is marred by tragedy.

Also included is the rare surviving fragment of the 1929 film I Graduated, But...

Director: Yasujiro Ozu

Cast: Ichiro Yuki, Minoru Takada, Tatsuo Saito

Special Features:

• I Graduated, But... (Yasujiro Ozu, 1929, 11 minutes): surviving fragment of Ozu's early student comedy about a recent graduate struggling to find a job
• Newly-commissioned scores for all films by Ed Hughes featuring The Camilleri Trio and Richard Casey (Dolby Digital stereo 320kbps)
• Ozu: Emotion and Poetry (2011, 20 minutes): Tony Rayns discusses Ozu s early work and influences
• Illustrated booklet with newly commissioned essays from Asian cinema experts Tony Rayns and Alexander Jacoby

 Region: 2