In an interview about the making of the Seven Samurai, Akira Kurosawa is reported to have said that Japanese film making (of the time) was generally "as bland as green tea over rice". Whether you interpret this as a friendly dig or a pointed insult, the reference is to Yasujiro Ozu. His many films focused on the everyday lives of ordinary people and his 1952 film was titled The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice.
Ozu's films are not particularly popular in America. His best-known film is probably Tokyo Story. Perhaps even in Japan these days, they are considered old-fashioned. His films are character-driven, rather than plot-driven and delve into the everyday social interactions of ordinary people, their neighbors and family. Like a Jane Austen novel, an Ozu's film is a comedy of manners.
Recently, his 1959 film Good Morning was released here on DVD. I've watched it several times and really enjoy it. On the surface, the story concerns two brothers who want their parents to buy them a TV. Only one couple in their neighborhood has a television (most don't have a washing machine). Of course the parents refuse. Not only do they not have the money, but they whole idea of television is suspect. "It will turn Japan into a nation of idiots."
The movie is really about speech and silence, about polite forms and true feelings, about honne and tatemae. When the boys are whining for the TV, their father tells them to shut up...they talk too much. So they decide not to say another word until their parents buy them a TV. "It's you adults who talk too much...'Ohayo, konnichi wa, komban wa, ii o-tenki desu ne'." Are these just wasted, meaningless words, or are they the grease the keeps the wheels of society turning smoothly?
Ozu takes both sides. When the children stop speaking, even to the neighbors, one gossipy housewife spread the rumor that their mother put them up to it because she holds grudges. On the other hand, a young couple are unable to reveal their feelings for each other because they can't get past the small talk. Successful communication obviously requires the sensitivity to know what type of speech is appropriate when.
But the fun of the movie has nothing to do with any of this. First of all the set design is incredible. The neighborhood is a modern Japanese suburb. It reminds me of the (Air Force) base housing I lived in growing up--cookie-cutter houses with no personality. I wondered if it is supposed to be company housing--but all the fathers seem to work at different places, so maybe not. The neighborhood seems so bleak, the soulless architecture of modernity. Ozu makes no attempt to pretty up the scene. In fact, in an early shot he carefully frames the overhead electrical wires calling attention to them, almost celebrating them as part of the whole. I don't remember anything like that in "Leave it to Beaver". I do remember being surprised by the same thing in a woodblock print, an otherwise traditional street scene of a woman walking holding an umbrella, marred (in my mind) by electrical wires overhead.
One of my favorite scenes is when the gossipy housewife is yelling at her son and apologizing to the neighbor (whom she doesn't like) in alternating sentences. This is a great scene for studying the differences between polite and informal forms of Japanese. This same housewife provides an excellent demonstration of the difference between what is said on the surface and what is felt underneath the surface when she is forced to apologize for an error made by her mother. She feels completely humiliated and can't hide insincerity of her apology.
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens
October 06, 2002
Comments
M--
I often casually mention Kurosawa and Ozu to students and other Japanese who inquire about my "hobbies" as they're wont to do. Sadly, most have never heard of Ozu. Fortunately, the libraries have, as my library has about 10 titles (including some of his early films from the 30's which will probably never see the light of an American DVD).
I made a pilgrimage to Ozu's grave in Kamakura back in July, I've been meaning to document that trip online but haven't gotten around to it. Interestingly, when I was there, a Japanese family arrived and did some "house-cleaning" (for lack of a more refined term) on the grave and poured water over it and prayed. From their conversation it was clear they weren't family but rather fans (or more correctly, one fan and his family). It was refreshing to find a Japanese person with the same reverence for Ozu.
Comment by: Kurt. Posted October 8, 2002 10:43 AM.
I first heard of Ozu in 1992 when the University of Texas had an Ozu Film Festival (in the heady days when UT still had its own cinema, before they redirected the funds to football). Just back from Japan, I attended eagerly, (taking JQS, of course) so that we could hear Japanese again. Ironically, the first film we saw was a silent movie! I think it was "Dekigokoro" (Passing Fancy) about a man struggling to raise his son.
Maybe when the current generation gets a little older, gets married, start raising a family, they will search for a nostalgic vision of the "real" Japan, of a simpler time; then, there will be an Ozu revival.
I just went to Amazon.com.jp and they have a good list of Ozu on video. Since it's NTSC, I could play those here in the US. I wish that Japan and the US weren't in different DVD regions.
Comment by: M. Posted October 9, 2002 12:33 PM.
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But some of us like the flavor of green tea over rice.