Documentary-Warm-Restrained: An Interpretation of the Aesthetic Style of the Long Take in Hirokazu Koreeda's Films

Abstract

Director Hirokazu Koreeda's films are unique in their documentary aesthetic style, which is somber and simple, calm and warm, and plainly realistic. In terms of content expression, he uses skillful and delicate expressions such as long takes, fixed lens, slow editing, and horizontal composition to dilute the traces of directorial creation, get rid of the constraints of techniques, and exude natural emotions, forming a unique social concern for the marginalized characters at the bottom of the hierarchy. In the study of Koreeda's films, three keywords are extracted: life, conflict, and death. Through analyzing representative long take paragraphs, I interpret his documentary, warm and restrained long take aesthetics. Koreeda uses long takes to show the beauty of Japanese life, eliminate family conflicts, and reflect on the issue of death, which can provide multiple perspectives of the film's rhythmic ambience, emotional expression, and marginal narrative for a deeper understanding of his films.