Yasujirō Ozu

Known for: Tokyo Story (1953), Late Spring (1949)

Yasujirō Ozu directed 54 films across a career beginning in the silent era, developing a distinctive style — the low camera position, the direct-address shot, elliptical editing — that subordinated narrative momentum to the rhythms of daily domestic life. Late Spring (1949) and Tokyo Story (1953) are among the most admired films in cinema history. He died on his 60th birthday.