In a post of at least 300 words, please answer the following questions pertaining to Tokyo Story:
For your Response Post to one classmate due by Sunday at 11:59pm.
Expand the discussion by replying in 75 words or more to at least one classmate’s post. Responses may include describing your own insight related to the post, providing additional information from assigned or outside content (just be sure to cite or link to sources), disagreeing respectfully by describing your own interpretation, proposing a new idea, or asking a probing question.
Ida Z. daRoza
National Cinemas Post 1945: Japan, India, China
Trying to focus on the tone how Yasugiro Ozu's style communicates to us in The Tokyo Story (1953). A tone that was expressed visually in film was the contrast of the humble parents from the small town of Onomichi to the frigidness of life in the big city in Tokyo.
This picture is of the parents on a tour of Tokyo by the daughter-in-law. Onomichi does not have high-rises but beautiful tiled traditional homes. The super modern staircase chosen for this shot contrasts with the older country parents. They look out of place. The father’s clothes are also older and the mother is in a traditional kimono. It is a simple scene without a lot of scenery but it does a good job showing the contrast of the traditional parents in such a modern location.
This scene reminded me of Jaques Tati’s represented the dichotomy between older and newer generations. His character Monsieur Hulot in Playtime (1967) looks down at an automated office from a high balcony. He has outdated clothes and tries to make sense of what he is looking down upon. Similarly, the parents are looking down at Tokyo from high above and trying to understand so where do they’re children live amongst all the dots below.
Ozu shows that the mother was aware of her mortality in a simple action of her not being able to stand on the shoreline. In this trip to Tokyo she was trying to connect with her children and grandchildren before she dies. Ozu showed us a scene where the mother takes her grandson for a walk and says that she hopes he will do well in life and she gets emotional. She tells the children now that they have seen each other there is no need to come down if something happens. She felt satisfied that she had that last reconnect with her family.
This reminded me of the journey/family film of the professor in Wild Strawberries (1957). He has a dream that reminds him of his mortality and the clocks have no arms to tell time. Part of his journey is that he wants to connect with his son and help him make things better in his relationship and be happy. He tries to connect to his son but he is busy and doesn’t listen to him.
Similarly, in the ending of Tokyo Story, the father talks about life and how he wants his daughter-in-law to be happy. He gives her his wife’s watch. A great prop and reminder that we can run out of time in life. He hopes that she uses her life in a happier way than as a lonely widow.
The still camera that doesn’t move much and is at eye level wasn’t a technique that I remember seeing often. In Rashomon (1950) the camera is completely still during most of the eye-witness testimonies. We are seeing the trial as if we are the judge and the camera doesn’t move so that we listen attentively to the witnesses with no distraction. This technique gives us full attention to the speaker and has us the place of witnesses.
In The 400 Blows (1959) a still camera works well for us to completely concentrate on Antoine’s story of his childhood. We are sitting in the seat of the psychiatrist and he is facing and talking to us like the Rashomon witnesses.
The parents are happiest and at peace in the simplicity of the seashore in contrast to the cramped apartments in Tokyo. The scene has a beautiful shot of the serene ocean which is very bright where they have a chance to discuss the truth about how they are not happy. It reminded me of the moment at the end of The Seventh Seal (1957) when the couple has left the chaos of the dark night and wake up in a brightly lit ocean view.
GRADE 3/3
Response from Mark Kuroda:
Great insights here! The watch as running out of time is genius. that's something I didn't pick up on. I figured it was just a simple gesture about how the kindness and generosity showed that family could be bigger than bloodlines, and that good things always came back to those who were kind, but that's a great insight there Ida.
I couldn't stand Shige, she shamed everyone, and didn't care about anything. Meanwhile the mother was so sweet, and just wanted to check in with her family. Interesting connection with Wild Strawberries, I'd very much like to watch that film in its entirety, as the one clip that we saw was interesting but kind of obscure.
Response from Sakura Kuo
Hello Ida,
You made interesting comparisons between Ozu and some Western film makers. You are right that we have not seen many examples of static camera. There are short scenes in 400 Blows and other Western films of static camera. The difference is that Ozu's camera is consistently static throughout his films. He uses this technique to convey his idea of Japanese culture. Restraint, dignified acceptance of life and uncomplaining willingness to endure life's hardships are values he conveys by his quiet yet powerful cinematic techniques. I believe his techniques are difficult to transfer to Western films.
Response from Don Gonzalez:
Noriko's kindness and the way she would go out at lengths to please her in-laws, without being contrived or fake, has endeared her I assume to most viewers, including myself. How perfect can she get? How understanding and accommodating can she be? Will she have vulnerable and imperfect moments? Those were the questions that crossed my mind when I compare her to the other characters. Near the end those questions were answered when we see her with her father-in-law for the last time in the film.
I really liked your choice of image here Ida and how you painted the differences between Tokyo and Onomichi. "The super modern staircase chosen for this shot contrasts with the older country parents. They look out of place. The father’s clothes are also older and the mother is in a traditional kimono." It is a perfect comparison between the old and the new, between the urban and the rural. Now I realized that throughout the film, staircases play a big role and the simple mundane task of ascending and descending them communicates to us very well. Nice analysis!
Response from Christopher Nathan
I like the contrast of big city vs. small town
Post of Sakura Kuo:
Yasujiro Ozu's films are very distinctive and consistent stylistically throughout his career. He developed his own unique style of cinematic language which became very influential for film makers who came after him. However, it is not an easy task to use Ozu's cinematic style. It is deceptively understated and quiet. Yet it produces powerful messages about life.
The first scene from Tokyo Story I embedded is an example of Ozu's framing device. Noriko and Shige are taking their leave at the doorway. The front door and the vertical line of the shoji (paper) door on the right create a distinctive framing for this scene. Numerous scenes are framed in a similar manner in this film, including the dinner scene after the funeral. In the film, Yiyi, made almost 50 years later, we see a similar framing at the doorway. The frequent use of framing device and the consistent use of horizontal and vertical lines to create this effect give a sense of stability and immutability to Ozu's story. Ozu's films have strong cultural specificity. They are about ordinary Japanese people and their strong sense of cultural values. Ozu's films are excellent studies of Japanese society and culture; they are authentic to a fault. In Japanese society, people are not supposed to make waves and stand out. Stability and accepting traditional roles are important and expected. The consistent framing keeps people in their place and in their expected roles; they may never complain; the society must be stable. The elderly couple are treated like nuisance and burden by their grown children. But, no matter how insensitively they are treated, they never complain or make waves. They are resigned and accept whatever fate comes their way. They may be country bumpkins, but they are elegiac and dignified. There is a terrible sense of sadness throughout. The film was made only a few years after WWII. The second son (Noriko's husband) was killed. Loss and disappointment are a large part of the life of this elderly couple.
Edward Young is part of the Taiwainese New Wave film makers. Framing is a device he uses in Yiyi. Even in the aftermath of the wedding banquet, Edward Young creates framing by using strong horizontal and some vertical lines in this scene. Like Ozu, he uses long takes and long shots. His pace is deliberate as he tells the story of a middle class Taiwanese family. He also shoots many scenes from a distance, like Ozu. Again, like Ozu, Edward Young's films are very culturally specific to contemporary Taiwanese society.
I find it interesting how much Ozu's style contrasts with Kurosawa's. In Seven Samurai by Kurosawa, there are exciting dynamic scenes of battle and action. The camera is in motion to enhance this excitement. Ozu's camera is static and situated at a low tatami level angle.
My Response:
Oct 23, 2020
Hello Sakura,
I think you answered the question about tone really well. I was struggling with understanding that but your example of framing scenes to match the culture was brilliant "The consistent framing keeps people in their place and in their expected roles..." I also appreciated your insight into Japanese culture.
In Kurosawa's first film No Regrets for Our Youth (1946). Interestingly Kurosawa's character Yukie is the opposite of Ozu's Noriko. She created her own destiny several times in the film. She decided to not get married to a suitor at 25 (a common upper range age for marriage in Japan) and she moved from Kyoto to Tokyo to work and live independently. The film took place from 1933-46 before and after the war. She decides to be a mistress and then marry a political rebel. She was an independent feminist character that I had not seen before in older traditional Japanese films or culture.
I recommend No Regrets for Our Youth and would love your opinion on it if you've seen it.
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