Dragnet Girl - Stummfilm mit Live-Musik

Director: OZU Yasujirô
1933, 120 minutes, OmeU, DCP

This silent film is an exception in Ozu's oeuvre. As a gangster film, it is set in the port city of Yokohama and shows Ozu's admiration for early Hollywood crime films and the director Josef von Sternberg. Wearing trench coats and felt hats, the protagonists roam the streets, smoky billiard halls, jazz clubs and boxing rings.
The focus is on the difficult relationship between the petty criminal Jôji and his girlfriend Tokiko, played by the then 24-year-old Tanaka Kinuyo. Tokiko works as a typist during the day and notices how Jôji is increasingly fascinated by Kazuko, whose brother has recently joined the gang of crooks. Wavering between jealousy and sympathy, Tokiko tries to convince her boyfriend to give up his life of crime.

On the piano: Daniel Kothenschulte

DanielKothenschulte is a film and art critic, curator and silent film pianist. Since 2001 he has been head of the film section of the Frankfurter Rundschau. He has authored catalogs for exhibitions on anime (Deutsches Filmmuseum, Frankfurt 2008) and Miyazaki Hayao (Academy Museum, Los Angeles 2021) and has published several books.

Film series
Ozu Yasujirô (1903 - 1963)
A tribute to the Japanese directing legend

Ozu Yasujirô is one of Japan's most internationally renowned directors. To mark his 120th birthday, which he would have celebrated this year, the production company Shôchiku and the Japan Foundation have digitally restored several works, six of which we are presenting. The series is complemented by TOKYO-GA by master director Wim Wenders.

The perfectionist Ozu developed an unmistakable film aesthetic, which he pursued with strict consistency. Characteristic are camera shots in which the action is filmed at the eye level of a person sitting on the floor, whereby Ozu always used a 50mm lens. He also deliberately avoided cross-fades, tracking shots or panning shots and restricted himself to fixed shots and simple cuts.

In almost all of his films, Ozu focused on the complex relationships within a family and portrayed the multi-layered emotional interdependencies between the different generations.
Both behind and in front of the camera, he worked with a well-coordinated and distinguished team, and many of his actors and actresses were among the stars of their time.

The series is a cooperation with the Arsenal - Institut für Film und Videokunst e.V. in Berlin, the Metropolis Kino, Kinemathek Hamburg e.V. and the Filmhaus Nürnberg in the KunstKulturQuartier.