I just found out the American film critic Donald Ritchie died on February 19 at age 88. Obituary here. Long-time Tokyo resident and Japanese film expert.
I met him 19 years ago here in Bangkok. The local branch of the Goethe Institute held a mini film festival featuring movies by Wim Wenders and Yasujiro Ozu. Wenders claims Ozu as his main influence. The festival lasted two or three weeks. Each night they would screen one film by each, back-to-back. I already knew of Wenders, but this was a good chance to see many films of his that I hadn’t had the chance to. But I’d never heard of Ozu before, and this was my introduction to this fantastic director. It was all free to the public.
One Saturday during the festival, the institute held an all-day seminar and for the occasion flew in a German expert on Wenders from Germany and Ritchie from Tokyo for his take on Ozu. This was also free to the public. The German expert was forgettable, stiff and formal as you might expect a German to be, but Ritchie was fascinating. And then an unexpected twist. When it came time to break for lunch, the institute announced lunch was on them, and they marched the entire audience up the street to a nearby hotel for its buffet lunch. And the German and Ritchie were there with us. I think the German kept to himself, but Ritchie had a grand time talking to us while eating. And again, the institute picked up the tab!
So it was all free. The movies, the all-day seminar, the lunch. This was in 1994, but I remember it to this day. And I certainly remember Donald Ritchie. We’ve since seen him in the Special Features of the DVDs of many classic Japanese films. And the wife and I have since watched almost all of Ozu’s films.
And from the link to his obituary, I see he was a sort-of founder of the Honolulu Film Festival. I didn’t know of his connection to that. The wife and I have certainly attended some screenings there.
RIP, Donald Ritchie. 