- I am overjoyed that we have been able to hold an exhibition at this time in which almost all the materials related to Director Yasujiro Ozu in Japan have been gathered together. This is based on private materials donated to the University of Tokyo by the family of the late Yuharu Atsuta, the famous partner and cinematographer of Director Ozu. This is a precious opportunity both for researchers and fans of Ozu’s films.
- In addition, in this special exhibition of the digital museum, not only are we using digital technology as a means for sorting and displaying materials, but we have also utilizes it in restoring a work of Director Ozu. Thus we have made it possible to show the results of today’s digital restoration technology.
- Digital restoration of old films is a field that is currently attracting a lot of attention as a technology for preserving the legacy of humanity, but the present state of affairs is that the necessary processing cannot be carried out due to budget problems and the like. The “old look” in a wooden
structure is its history and also what’s good about it, but an “old look” in film, which exists to be replayed, is nothing more than tragedy in which the media loses its ability to transmit what the director intended. By using digital restoration and then the digital technology called digital preservation, it becomes possible for us to make this tragedy completely
a thing of the past.
- As is true of Ozu’s early works, many films have been lost completely for various reasons. Among these, of course, are ones that have completely disappeared due to loss or fire. However, as for ones that are being lost due to changes in optical film over the course of time, we can now rescue them. And there are lots of films like this. The objective of this exhibition is to look for the secrets of Ozu’s films on the basis of a large number of materials. But at the same time,
I would like visitors to pay attention to this digital restoration technology. It would be an unexpected joy if this special exhibition serves as an opportunity to draw attention to this technical field, so that the many films that are being lost could enjoy its benefits.
- I would like to express my gratitude that through the cooperation of many concerned persons we were able to reach the stage where this large amount of materials could be displayed. If many people rediscover the charm of old films through this exhibition, I believe it will be possible to repay to some extent this wonderful cooperation.
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