Once again I find myself floored by the unflinching realism Ozu captures as far back as 1935. His realism feels intermittently poetic here. A squirming fly in a bowl of water, an overpoured glass of sake, a striking cut sequence of close-ups and fireworks: these are just a few favourite examples.
One small visual queue I loved happened when the father got a job and the two kids went to school. Prior to this, they were always introduced in exterior shots sitting or standing on the ground, an empty giant wire spool not uncommon. After this change, they are shown sitting atop a giant empty spool, figuratively elevated in life.
It’s interesting to note Ozu’s cinematic perspective on the criminal element and its relation to 1930’s Japanese society. This isn’t the first time crime has played a pivotal role in saving a dying child (That Night’s Wife). The heroic necessity of crime captured by Ozu reflects the inescapable destitution under which a good chunk of Japanese society is suffocating.
With respect to modern lessons we may glean, we may ponder how the manipulation of the larger population is possible. Moving towards something awful: imperialism and war because everyone is just so desperate. My selfishly extrapolatable take says a litmus test of atrocious susceptibility lies in the current state of the bottom rungs. Woe unto us; we never seem to learn.
Once again I find myself floored by the unflinching realism Ozu captures as far back as 1935. His realism feels intermittently poetic here. A squirming fly in a bowl of water, an overpoured glass of sake, a striking cut sequence of close-ups and fireworks: these are just a few favourite examples.
One small visual queue I loved happened when the father got a job and the two kids went to school. Prior to this, they were always introduced in exterior shots sitting or standing on the ground, an empty giant wire spool not uncommon. After this change, they are shown sitting atop a giant empty spool, figuratively elevated in life.
It’s interesting to note Ozu’s cinematic perspective on the criminal element and its relation to 1930’s Japanese society. This isn’t the first time crime has played a pivotal role in saving a dying child (That Night’s Wife). The heroic necessity of crime captured by Ozu reflects the inescapable destitution under which a good chunk of Japanese society is suffocating.
With respect to modern lessons we may glean, we may ponder how the manipulation of the larger population is possible. Moving towards something awful: imperialism and war because everyone is just so desperate. My selfishly extrapolatable take says a litmus test of atrocious susceptibility lies in the current state of the bottom rungs. Woe unto us; we never seem to learn.
