'Still Walking' (2008)
Hirokazu Kore-eda is often called the modern heir to Ozu, and 'Still Walking' is his most direct and heartfelt homage. The film unfolds over 24 hours as a family gathers to commemorate the death of their eldest son. Like Ozu, Kore-eda finds profound drama
in the small moments: the preparation of a meal, a walk to the seaside, and the subtle barbs traded between relatives. He captures the simmering tensions and unspoken love that define many families, using a patient, observant camera that never judges. While Kore-eda has mentioned his style is also like Ken Loach, the focus on generational divides, resignation, and the bittersweet ache of memory is pure Ozu. It’s a film that understands that the deepest family wounds and strongest bonds are often the ones left unspoken.
'Yi Yi' (A One and a Two...) (2000)
If Ozu made a film in 21st-century Taipei, it might look something like Edward Yang's 'Yi Yi'. This three-hour epic follows the upper-middle-class Jian family as they navigate love, loss, and existential crises. Yang, a master of the Taiwanese New Wave, shares Ozu’s talent for observing multiple generations at once, giving equal weight to the professional anxieties of the father, the spiritual crisis of the mother, the first heartbreaks of the teenage daughter, and the innocent curiosity of the young son. The film’s static, precisely composed shots and unhurried pace demand patience, but the reward is an incredibly rich and honest portrait of human life. 'Yi Yi' suggests, much like Ozu’s 'Tokyo Story', that while we may never fully understand each other, the attempt to connect is what gives life its meaning.
'Paterson' (2016)
An American indie about a bus-driving poet in New Jersey might seem worlds away from post-war Japan, but director Jim Jarmusch is a devoted Ozu admirer who finds transcendence in the everyday. 'Paterson' follows one week in the life of its title character, a man who lives a life of quiet routine: he drives his bus, writes poetry on his lunch break, walks his dog, and has a beer at the local bar. The film is a celebration of the small, repetitive moments that make up a life. Jarmusch rejects grand dramatic arcs in favor of a gentle, meditative rhythm that Ozu would have recognized. By finding beauty and poetry in the mundane, 'Paterson' captures the essence of Ozu’s belief that the most profound stories are often the simplest ones.
'Columbus' (2017)
Director Kogonada’s love for Ozu is so deep, he took his pseudonym from Ozu's longtime screenwriter, Kogo Noda. His debut feature, 'Columbus', is a visual love letter to Ozu’s style. The story follows two strangers—a man stranded in Columbus, Indiana, while his estranged father is in a coma, and a young woman torn between her own dreams and her duty to her mother. Their connection blossoms through conversations about life, family, and the city’s famous modernist architecture. Kogonada uses static, meticulously framed shots that echo Ozu’s famous 'pillow shots'—lingering images of buildings and empty spaces that are dense with emotion. The film explores Ozu's classic themes of generational duty and the quiet ache of unspoken feelings, proving that his cinematic language can speak powerfully in any time or place.
'Aftersun' (2022)
Charlotte Wells' stunning debut isn't a direct homage, but its emotional DNA is deeply connected to Ozu's world. The film is a fragmented memory piece, as an adult woman looks back on a holiday she took with her young father in Turkey. Like Ozu's best work, 'Aftersun' focuses on the gulf between a parent and child—the love that is deeply felt but imperfectly communicated. The film is built from small, quiet moments and unspoken feelings, where the most important things happen in the spaces between words. It trusts the viewer to understand the profound melancholy lurking beneath the surface of a seemingly happy vacation. It’s a modern masterpiece of quiet observation, proving that Ozu’s focus on the bittersweet complexities of the parent-child bond remains one of cinema’s most timeless and powerful subjects.
