Devotional Cinema

Cultural Writing. Second, Revised Edition. Offered here in Spr/Summer 2004, new text has been added based on the new availability of Yasujiro Ozu's extand works. "I felt inspired to improve the description of The Only Son and deepen my thoughts about Ozu in general," (from the Preface) Nathaniel Dorsky has been making and exhibiting films within the avant-garde tradition since 1964. From the text: "For film to have a devotional quality both absolute and relative time must be active and present -not only present but functioning simultaneously and invigorating one another. Transformative film rests in the present and respects the delicate details of its own unfolding."