Life imitates Art: the intimacy of family in the work of Claire Denis and Yasujiro Ozu

This chapter has three key aims, firstly to explore the idea of why putting such directors into conversation is both productive and useful. Secondly, I will explore how Denis’s affective engagement with the idea of family can find resonance with Ozu’s intimate portraits and, finally, how the space of global capitalism is written across both their works as a reflection of the socio-political moments that surrounded their individual careers. These parallel developments and approaches are found across a wide variety of their films and despite the clear differences in culture, language, space and history, a concurrent exploration of their works allows a further nuanced understanding of the works of both directors.