CINEMATIC SENSEI

In the realm of Japanese cinema, Yasujiro Ozu was the anti-Kurosawa. Not that that’s a bad thing. Kurosawa tended toward the epic and feudalistic. Ozu was inclined toward quieter, gentler, more personal stories, often mining the emotional depths of Japanese families. In his final masterwork, 1962’s Autumn Afternoon, an aging widower, reflecting on his life, arranges a marriage for his daughter so that she might escape their burgeoning codependency. Screening tonight at 6:30 at Tivoli Cinemas (4050 Pennsylvania, 913-383-7756), Ozu’s swan song is the latest offering in the fifth Janus Film Series, presented with UMKC’s Department of Communication Studies. The series continues on Thursday evenings throughout March and April and will feature films by Ingmar Bergman, Jean-Luc Godard, Milos Forman, David Lean, François Truffaut and Victor Erice. Admission is $3, and free for UMKC students and staff with valid ID.

Thu., March 12, 7 p.m., 2009