Wes Anderson & Yasujiro Ozu: A Visual Essay

Anna Catley takes us on a tour of the parallel works of Wes Anderson and Yasujiro Ozu.

Wes Anderson is known for his whimsical films with dry humour, bright colour palettes, and for his distinct narrative and visual style. Yasujiro Ozu, arguably less well-known to mainstream audiences, made a name for himself as the "most Japanese of all film directors", known for his calm, minimalist approach to film and his tendency to revisit the same kinds of stories over and over again. The relationship that exists between these Anderson and Ozu, if any, might not be immediately tangible, so the purpose of this essay is to try and draw some visual, thematic, and narrative parallels between these two extraordinarily distinct artists. Anderson and Ozu are two of my favourite directors, so it seemed only natural to pay tribute to them and their incredible filmographies.