When I was making that film, that's when I thinking the most about Ozu. There was also Tokyo Kyodai , which was an Ozu homage, but in that film I was more concerned with getting Ozu into the camera angles and scenery. But Byoin was closer in spirit to an Ozu film. In some ways, though, that was your most experimental film, in the way you introduced montage into the narrative and the way you kept the camera of the foot of the patients' beds, never moving in for a close-up. Instead I wanted images that would be similar to a picture painted from a middle distance.
Death is an equalizer.
It comes to everyone, whether they are rich or poor. I didn't want to focus on one at the expense of the others. I wanted to view them all equally. That's why I kept the camera in one place. I didn't want any camera moves because I wanted to maintain that neutrality.