• Roger Ebert on Ozu

    We will miss our friend Roger Ebert, who died yesterday at age seventy. In honor of this very special man and most beloved and influential of film critics, we would like to share with you the first four minutes of his commentary track for Yasujiro Ozu’s Floating Weeds, an entry in his ever-growing “Great Movies” list; watching and listening to this clip, we were really struck by the sense of being with him in a room and getting to see cinema through his eyes. In it, Ebert conveys his passion, intellect, and humility, his love for cinema in general and Ozu in particular. Just hearing his voice again moves us.

    Video

10 comments

  • By dzejman
    April 05, 2013
    09:27 PM

    He will always be one of my greatest inspirations for the film lover in me. Rest in Peace. <3
    Reply

  • By nolan w.
    April 05, 2013
    09:38 PM

    i had been watching his video introduction to the decalogue just the night before and realized how much i underappreciated him. strange indeed and a sad loss.
    Reply

  • By Craig J. Clark
    April 05, 2013
    10:35 PM

    Just last night I watched his commentary on Citizen Kane, which is a model for how those things should be done. This one is also great. In fact, I can credit Roger Ebert with getting me interested in Ozu in the first place.
    Reply

  • By Robert M.
    April 06, 2013
    12:49 AM

    It's sad that he mentions Donald Richie who also recently died. I admired them both greatly. R.I.P
    Reply

  • By Gord
    April 06, 2013
    04:29 AM

    I loved Roger. He talked with you about film not 'from above' and he like most of us approached the emotional connections that we respond to about films. His Great Movies list, and later his great blog, was like having a very cool big brother teach you about some of the things that mattered most. I don't agree with James Lipton, Ebert was sometimes wrong in his assessments (Deadman for one), but he was a joy to read. I'm old enough to remember Siskel & Ebert on TV - joking with David Letterman, praising the renaissance of Bill Murray's career with Rushmore, insulting eachother - I think many will understand when I say I feel as if I lost a friend.
    Reply

  • By Moviefan777
    April 06, 2013
    09:29 AM

    Roger Ebert is one of my personal heroes as he helped me have a passion of film with his excellent book series, The Great Movies.I will forever miss him forever. :(
    Reply

  • By Batzomon
    April 06, 2013
    10:05 AM

    Ozu and many other directors have proven Ebert's axiom about movies true: "It's not what a film is about, but how it's about." One of the greatest critics and writers of our time.
    Reply

  • By Kevin Nash
    April 06, 2013
    12:57 PM

    Roger helped me understand that seeing and talking about film must always come from instinct, straight out of the eyes and the heart, before it can become the subject of an intellectual conversation. He was the sweetest film critic that ever lived, and because of his gentility his reviews came to have great weight in the movie community. His death is a tremendous loss to the movies, and we will miss him so dearly. Goodbye Roger.
    Reply

  • By Sidney
    April 08, 2013
    01:21 PM

    He remains one of my heroes/mentors. He revolutionized the film criticism, and I loved his essay for "El Norte". I don't think that I will recover from this, and now there be a huge gap in film history. When I watch movies, I will always think of him.
    Reply

  • By Sleestak
    April 08, 2013
    07:11 PM

    I will miss this guy. I'm very fond of the film Caligula due to it's trashy lowbrow excess and actually own the three disc version (confession time) , but one of my favorite film reviews of all time was his review of it. He beat the s@#t out of it in a way that was so awesome. It was pure art. Ebert had the rare ability of never sounding pompous, but we always knew he lived Cinema. What a dude.
    Reply

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