Passing Fancy
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu
Japan, 1933
100 minutes
Materials for presenters
Original score by Lori Goldston. Performed by Lori Goldston, cello; Phil Gelb, shakuhachi (bamboo flute); Greg Campbell, drum set, percussion and horn.
Listen to an excerpt from the live recording.
Cellist and composer Lori Goldston was commissioned by New York public radio station WNYC’s New Sounds Live to compose a live score for Yasujiro Ozu’s silent film “Passing Fancy.” It was performed by Goldston on cello, Philip Gelb on shakuhachi and Greg Campbell on drum set and horn. It premiered at the World Financial Center Winter Garden in New York in February 2010.
Ozu was a veteran director when he made his subtle, exquisite silent film “Passing Fancy” in 1933, and had already begun to develop his signature quirky narrative and technical style. Set in a ratty neighborhood in Tokyo, it is about a boy, his single father, and their network of friends and neighbors. It is considered by many critics to be one of his masterpieces.