Director Watch Podcast Ep. 121 - 'An Autumn Afternoon' (Yasujirō Ozu, 1962)

Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 121 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys discuss the final film in their Yasujirō Ozu series, An Autumn Afternoon (1962).

The boys have come full circle within the end of their Ozu series, as the director takes a similar story structure of a father wanting his daughter to get married, and elevates to beyond what he’s shown before on screen; a lasting note within a masterful filmography. In An Autumn Afternoon, Ozu explores what the future holds not just for his characters, but his country as a whole, while also examining the events and actions of his characters in the film through the lens of someone grieving the idea of losing their parent, as Ozu’s mother had passed away shortly around the making of this film. A heartbroken director crafted his most personal family drama yet, and a beautiful note to end his career and this series on. Ryan and Jay break down their thoughts on the film, get personal with what Ozu is showing here one last time, look at how the past shapes the present and future of Japan and their cinema, while also giving their Ozu rankings and previewing their new exciting directors’ series that begins next week.

You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music, YouTube and more.

This podcast runs 2h01m. The guys will be back next week to begin their new series on the films of The Hughes Brothers with a review of their first film, Menace II Society. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let’s get into it.

Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).