Training
In December of the year he joined the studio, Ozu, who was 20 years old and had a strong physique like that of a boxer or wrestler, took the military draft test and passed. He became a soldier classified-Koh (a person judged to be healthy and of the most suitable physique for a soldier). As a result, Ozu enlisted in the 6th troop of the 4th infantry regiment of the Imperial Guards in December 1924 as a one-year volunteer.
In November of the following year, Ozu was discharged from the military after completing a full year of military service. Shortly thereafter, or perhaps in early 1926, he asked Saito Torajiro, his senior, to transfer him to the department of director, and on September 5th of that year, he and Saito successfully became assistant directors to Okubo Tadamoto.
Okubo Tadamoto, whose name is now remembered in film history as Ozu's mentor, was, according to Sugiyama Shizuo , a film critic, a brilliant, free-spirited, intelligent man with a rare samurai-like personality. Moreover, Okubo had the guts and humor to shoot a movie with the dubious title of “Don kyu-no-shin” as soon as “Don Q, Son of Zorro” starring Douglas Fairbanks became a huge hit. Apparently, the two men had so much in common that people were under the impression that Ozu had inherited only Okubo's good qualities. At the time, Okubo was using the pseudonym “Gerekan-master”, which was derived from the word “geretsu”, which means vulgarity in Japanese, and hence he also had the nickname “Mr. Gerekan”. According to Ozu's diary, a character named Kobayashi who appears in Natsume Soseki's novel “Light and Darkness” seems to resemble Okubo somehow.
According to screenwriter Fushimi Akira, Okubo was the originator of gag comedy at Kamata studio. And Ozu's name is mentioned as the gag man in the credits title of Okubo's film “Mah-jong” (1926).
On the night that director Okubo shot location shooting for “Newly-married Days” in Kamakura, the film crew held a drinking party at a restaurant. At that meeting, a review I had previously written for Kinema Junpo, a movie magazine, came up as a topic of discussion. In my review, I criticized Okubo's previous work “Aion-Hyakumenso”, calling it “sometimes in bad taste and too shallow”, so Okubo said, “My staff is dissatisfied with your critique”. I couldn't back down after hearing that, so I asked Okubo, “Are you dissatisfied?” The broad-shouldered man immediately replied, “I'm dissatisfied”. That was Ozu Yasujiro.
The above is critic Uchida Kisao's recollection of his first meeting with Ozu, who was Okubo's assistant director.
The original story and adaptation of “Aion-Hyakumenso (Hundred faces with love and grudge)” (1926), which is mentioned in this article, was in collaboration between Okubo, Ozu, and Saito Torajiro. That's why Ozu, as one of the co-authors, probably wanted to refute Uchida's criticism.
Okubo was apparently a sloppy director, sometimes not showing up on set and having an assistant director direct in his stead. Ozu, who was still inexperienced as an assistant director, at one time co-wrote the script with Okubo, and at other times was able to gain much training as a director by experiencing Okubo's filming locations.
These are the words that Ozu later reflected on his experience when he was Okubo's assistant director.
When I was Okubo's assistant director, I first wrote the script, and whenever I came up with a good idea, I immediately suggested it to the director and discussed it. Mr. Okubo also listened to the opinions of us young people, which gave me even more encouragement. Thinking about it now, I think I was lucky to be Okubo's assistant director.
Even after Ozu was promoted to director, he respected Okubo as his mentor. Ozu's reverence for Okubo can be seen in the fact that he sometimes uses his name for the character name in his works. For example, the professor in “College is a Nice Place”, the elementary school teacher in “The Only Son”, and the flatulent master (the master of breaking wind) in “Good Morning” are all named “Okubo”. Ozu's diary recorded that even after Okubo was transferred to the Shimokamo studio in Kyoto in December 1930, Ozu would meet him at Tokyo Station or let him stay at his home every time he came to Tokyo.
With the exception of the wartime films “The Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family” and “There Was a Father”, when jokes and practical jokes were not allowed, and some post-World War II works, Ozu is essentially a director who is at his best in comedy films. This is probably because the blood of his former master Okubo has been passed down within Ozu.
