Apologies for replying 2 years late.
Well, it certainly isn't a sin on MoFo! And some people have been known to resurrect threads as old as 10 years and more, which made me give them the Golden Shovel Award! Good times.
Sansho was one of my favorites which I appreciated even more upon rewatch, especially after going through the classics and New Waves etc.. Ugetsu, Oharu and Story of Last Chrysanthemums aren't even close to it, and these are also masterpieces which rival the bests films made by many classical japanese directors.
Yep, I was actually destroyed by Sansho on my second watch. Recently I've rewatched Last Chrysanthemums and it made a deep impression on me, too. For one, the movie doesn't use any music and tries to distance you from the characters as much as it gets and it still managed to move me. Ugetsu might be my least favorite of the three. It's a perfect movie. But there's something missing there, and I can't even pinpoint what that is.
Curious to know your opinion on Naruse. I consider him my favorite Japanese director, and his extensive body of work is rather remarkable.
Nikio Naruse is fiendishly consistent, socially conscious, and subtlety masterful. I've seen 50 of his films, and I've actually started by going chronologically from the very beginning all the way up to 1943. I lost the zeal after that and started watching the rest of his work in a semi-random order. What strikes me is how consistently good Naruse is. Sure, he has good movies, and he has masterworks, but he never fluctuates too much. For one, he never made a movie I abhorred. He's not my favorite but I think he's largely underappreciated and undermentioned in the West. Half of the people who say a particular director was influenced by Ozu actually mean Naruse. For one, Koreeda is much more a Naruse follower than an Ozu acolyte.
As we grow older, we start appreciating works with more grace, refinement, quietness, delicacy, finesse and subtlety. There are some who return to more kitschy bombastic camp but I rather sip fine wine than drown in beer.
I mean, I actually started with watching ONLY the stuff that fits your description. Then, I branched off into watching all kinds of stuff, including the kitschy and bombastic camp. I think it's only fair if a cinephile gives his unadulterated attention to all kinds of cinema: refined, artistic, camp, and one straight out of the gutter. Another point is that a movie can be more than one of these at the same time. But my point is if you only watch "entertainment" you're just a film buff. You're not serious about film. But if you only watch "art" you're just an art film buff. You're TOO serious about film. I think that to be a cinephile you have to watch and love both.
Oh, and I still have yet to get around to Yoji Yamada.
Wow, you're sure taking your time!
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