Mr. Good Morning Ozu

Zachary 2022-01-20 08:03:45


"Ozu Fu, who has been lonely all his life, has a real sense of humor. He puts the trivial things around us in front of our eyes in a simple face like a juggling, so that after the sadness and joy, we can see the little things, lead the impermanence, and go on the road in a daze. A successful director is to do it. To achieve the realm of Ozu, it is both far and near, both advancing and far, which seems to be very close to your body, but you must maintain a proper distance and not fall into it."
-Hou Xiaoxian


It seems that every director has his own legend, Ozu Sheng On December 12, 1903, he passed away on December 12, 1963, not one more day but one day, and he just lived a full sixty years old. There is an old saying in China: standing at thirty, not confused at forty, knowing the destiny at fifty, and obedient at sixty. Ershun means hearing all the words without any dissatisfaction, which means seeing through the world. And sixty is also called a sixtieth birthday, in the lunar calendar, it has been a reincarnation. There is only one Chinese character "None" on Ozu's tombstone. In this reincarnation, he walked so calmly.

The film I want to comment on today is a very humble work by Ozu. "Good Morning" was filmed in 1959. It is a color film, which is regarded as a late Ozu film. Tell trivial stories between several families and neighborhoods.


Background

In 1959, China quelled the rebellion in Tibet. At the beginning of the year, it also checked the rectification of the People’s Commune. However, after the Lushan Conference in August, Mao Zedong launched an "anti-rightist" struggle. This struggle made the "Left" lean. The error developed more and lasted longer.
However, at this time, Japan was quietly changing. At that time, the Cold War atmosphere between the United States and China, the Soviet Union and the DPRK became more and more serious. In order to contain the socialist camp, the United States changed its attitude towards Japan at the beginning of the Korean War. It did not completely liquidate the militarists and began to support Japan's economy and use Japan to serve its aggressive war in Korea. During this period, Japan began to liberalize trade, and higher education began to develop rapidly. Under the support of the United States, Japan's economy developed rapidly, and Japanese society also quietly changed. People's lives, and even all aspects of their families were greatly affected.

era

The seemingly ordinary daily life of "Good Morning" is actually deeply imprinted by the times.
The whole film actually revolves around the fact that the two children of the Lin family, Xiao Shi Xiaoyong, want to buy a TV. The arrival of the television is actually the arrival of American consumer culture. Faced with the changes of the times, the reactions of all social strata are completely different.
Children are always the first group to adapt to new things. They do not have the deep-rooted ideological burden of the old culture, and they show great enthusiasm for all new things. Xiaoyong, the youngest child of the Lin family, has already learned to say I love you when he meets people. All the children in the film are keen to watch TV, crowded into the young trendy couple's home to watch the sumo game on TV, and also hope to have a TV at home. The trendy couple no longer wears kimonos at home like traditional Japanese families, but put on Western-style pajamas. The housewives of other families obviously don't like such an alternative trendy couple.
Xiaoxing's grandmother is a midwife. Such a profession has fully demonstrated that she will be the most tenacious resister of the new culture and social changes. She has a bad memory, and she talks about her all day long, and when she confronts the salesman (the representative of consumer culture) who comes to her door, she uses the most ferocious side to drive her away. Although she is a very cute old woman, she is explaining The best evidence that the old culture will remain in the long river of history. She is about to be the forgotten part.
Shi Xiaoyong’s father, Xiaolin is an intellectual and the backbone of society. He was hesitant to buy a TV, that is, whether to accept the new culture. When he talked about TV in a bar, he said that TV is An object that made 100 million people an idiot. For Kobayashi, he knows the drawbacks of consumer culture and new social changes, and he vaguely knows what era will come. However, he finally chose to buy a TV, because he was in the middle of the era, and he had no choice. The torrent of the era is irreversible for individuals.
Fukuze, the gentleman who became an electrical salesman after retiring, was obviously the beneficiary of the beginning of consumer culture. At the end of the film, Xiaoxing’s mother unintentionally explained Mrs. Fukuze’s understanding of Mrs. Lin’s words: "Not all of them. The reason for the money.” Has begun to reveal the changes in the original social relations of the market economy.
However, all of this, in Ozu's image, is indeed soft, not sharp at all. He does not make any judgments on the old and new cultures, social changes, does not criticize, does not resist, just wisely and quietly embellishments with humor. Instead, it focuses on the emotional expression of each character. Life, for Ozu, is always gentle. Human emotions and life are always as clear and natural as flowing water flowing over smooth pebbles. Just like at the end of the film, Mrs. Lin’s younger sister Jiezi and her English teacher were talking about the weather on the platform, just as calm and breezy.

Angle

starting from the child's point of view is a story unfold adults coup, Ozu very good at this technique, there are similar Hou Hsiao-hsien "holiday stuff," Wu Yigong "Wonderful" and so on. Seeing the world through the eyes of children actually makes the story more real and moving, full of innocence, and more interesting. More importantly, it makes the narrative more objective.
In my opinion, Japanese children are always a little weird. The children in Ozu's images are all rebellious, and there are many children who run away from home in Ozu's films. Growth stories in other Japanese director films are cruel and rebellious, without exception. This probably cannot be separated from the national character of Japanese chrysanthemum and sword.



Tired...to be continued...












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Extended Reading
  • Luisa 2022-04-23 07:04:07

    Small joys in everyday chores. A lot of people have done this kind of thing and insisted not to talk about buying something awkward~ (Lin's younger brother who likes to say 'I love you' is so funny

  • Brady 2022-03-18 09:01:07

    1. One of Ozu Yasujiro's most amusing works is also the one with the richest character relationships and the relatively fastest narrative rhythm. In just 90 minutes, it presents the life of the Japanese urban people in the 1950s, which is impressive. 2. The color is extremely beautiful, the whole piece is immersed in the brown background color of the wood, the various colors are thick but not gorgeous, as if Godard's bright primary colors are in harmony with the Morandi hue, and the color matching of clothing and interior furnishings is unparalleled . 3. A movie about (daily) language: The children don’t understand that adults’ seemingly useless greetings have the meaning of seasonings and lubricants, so they no longer speak in anger, causing all kinds of jokes; and the relationship between neighbors I was really hurt by suspicion because of missing a greeting. The rumors and gossip of the housewives are not to be underestimated; the children always put "I love U" on their lips when they go out, and the two men and women who love each other meet each other. But it’s hard to tell the truth about repeating "the weather is really good today". 4. The children's fart game is too fun, and the hula hoop. 5. Western consumer culture and the influence of modernity: TV sets, washing machines, suits, salesmen, learning English. (9.5/10)

Good Morning quotes

  • Isamu: I love you.

  • Keitarô Hayashi: Someone said TV would produce 100 million idiots.