Thursday, August 14, 2014

Three Things Thursday: Knitting in Japanese

Setsuko Hara knitting Mariko Okada in Late Autumn Hand Quilting on Cozy Pumpkin
1. Setsuko Hara knitting; 2. Mariko Okada in Late Autumn; 3. Beautiful hand quilting threads on Cozy Pumpkin

Lately I'm on a big Yasujiro Ozu kick - he's a Japanese filmmaker who worked in the 1930's, 40's, 50's and 60's. My love of Ozu began years back, when I tearfully watched Tokyo Story, then Late Spring and Early Summer.

Recently I got Hulu Plus, and saw that almost ALL of Ozu's films are available there, so I've been working my way through them methodically, ever since. That knitting image of Setsuko Hara is fitting, since I typically knit through them - of course they're not embroidery friendly because I don't speak Japanese. :)

There's something so elementally simple and profound about his films. He's one of those filmmakers who feel like a kindred spirit to me - I mean, probably I'm overstepping my bounds, and if we had ever met in real life we'd have nothing to actually say to each other, but what I mean is - the world he presents through light and color and emotion in his films makes sense to me. A world where family is central, home is essential, and we all spend our lives either missing or making connections with each other. Our lives are filled with humor, silliness, anger, tedium, responsibility, joy, and regret.

No comments: