Project: Colors of Ozu

Colors of Ozu is a film analysis project that leverages digital tools to novelly and creatively examine the final six films of Japanese filmmaker Yasujirō Ozu (1903-1963). These works—which include Equinox Flower (1958), Good Morning (1959), Floating Weeds (1959), Late Autumn (1960), The End of Summer (1961), and An Autumn Afternoon (1962)—are also unique in their oeuvre for being the only films the prolific director and screenwriter even produced in color. While nearly all of Ozu’s films have been widely regarded and studied for their distinctive visual style, relationship to Japanese society and culture, and other aesthetic and narrative qualities, little critical attention has been given to investigating Ozu’s use of color at the end of their career. Colors of Ozu seeks a dual purpose in adding this element to the existing, broad field of criticism around Ozu’s work and applying the tools and methods of digital humanities (DH) research to strengthen the bond between DH and film/media studies.