When I watched "Tokyo Story", I felt a sense of despair, although the tone of the whole film seemed flat, without ups and downs, without conflict, without climax, just like the flowing river in the country town Onomichi. But Ozu always revealed a sense of helplessness in the dullness. Whether it was the estrangement between children and parents, or the fact that people became more and more selfish with the passage of time, Ozu did not seem to deliberately blame anyone for their faults, but Just showing such a state safely, without judgment, without right and wrong. But it is this realism. The performance of long shots and empty shots has created another kind of emptiness in my heart, a kind of sadness about life that you can't capture. After all, there are things that people really can't capture.
The distance between Tokyo and Onomichi is reachable by train, but the distance between the hearts of parents and children is untouchable. At the beginning of the film, what I couldn't understand was why when the old couple came to their son's house, there was such a sense of unfamiliarity between them. Originally I thought it was due to Japanese customs, so they had a relationship with each other. They were polite, strictly abide by the distance between each other, and kept bowing to each other and greeting each other. But with the development of the film, I gradually feel that maybe this is a deliberate arrangement by director Ozu, or maybe this is the real reality. The gap between them has been defined by time.
Children have their own lives. They are not unfilial or unwilling to pay for their parents, but between their lives and their parents, the priorities are clearly defined. Therefore, the son left his parents at home for a whole week in order to be busy with the hospital visit, and even did not want to let his wife take his parents out to play, on the grounds that no one would see her when she went out to the house. The irony is that they once grew up in a family, and now that they have a family of their own, the previous family with their parents has completely disappeared. This is the paradox of parents, children, families. How big is the kindness of parents? What does it mean to be raised by a father for decades? When we are independent and no longer need to rely on our parents, should parents let go of their children and even stop disturbing them as much as possible? Where are the standards and boundaries between these?
Sometimes, when the kindness of parents and relatives fade with time, deliberately trying to prove one's filial piety is self-defeating. So when they pooled money to let their parents go to the hot springs in Atami, they suffered sleepless nights. The couple who got married in the hotel, one day they will have children, one day they will grow old, one day they may also face the alienation between parents and children. After a sleepless night, the two old people sat on the shore of Atami. The Atami in front of them was wide and clear, shining brightly under the rising sun. The figures of the two old people on the shore were lonely and helpless. Comforting each other should be satisfied with all this, but "how big is Tokyo, if we get lost, we will never find each other again", this is actually the deepest sadness in the hearts of the elderly. They have browsed so many things in Tokyo, even They came to Beihai to soak in the hot springs, but the children who have passed by over time will probably never be found again.
The old people who returned to Tokyo felt the dislike of their children, and they did not dare to disturb them too much, so they could only find a place to live by themselves. People in the park came and went, the two of them walked forward together, but the figure was so lonely. The old man who was with his old friend was finally able to release himself easily. The honor and disgrace of the past became the talk of the present, but the words were full of jokes and helplessness. Several old people compared each other's good and bad, no one was right Satisfied with the status quo. The old man naturally expressed his disappointment that he had hoped for his son to become a dragon. As a doctor of medicine, his son was only a barefoot doctor. Maybe he didn't know how to feel better in his heart. Parents always have a slightly unrealistic desire for their children in their hearts. When such desire cannot become a reality, and even when their children and their appearance are separated from themselves, the all-night drunkenness cannot cure the pain in their hearts.
Ironically, son-in-law and daughter-in-law who are not relatives treat themselves better than their own children. The obedient wife and strict son-in-law had been thinking about the old people who came from afar, thinking about buying expensive but delicious food for them, and felt sorry when they couldn't go out with them. As a widow's daughter-in-law, she paid more than her snobbish and selfish daughter, perhaps because her years of loneliness made her better understand the helplessness of being an old man at that time, but her daughter-in-law is the most vivid person in the film. Although not perfect, she not only misses her deceased husband, but also has the emptiness in the middle of the night. She treats the two old people wholeheartedly, but she also hides her true thoughts in front of the two old people. so real.
The old mother died in the early hours of the morning. The old father did not shed a single tear. Instead, he was the most snobby and selfish daughter in the film, crying inexplicably. Noriko went to the old father after Keizan arrived. It was the sunrise, such a beautiful morning, but he could not keep an aging old man. The old father's tone was calm, indifferent, and long. When the old mother first arrived in Tokyo, she used to play with her grandson on the lawn. Black smoke kept coming out behind her. The train on the bridge not far away had just passed. She asked her grandson what she wanted to do in the future, but he did not answer. Say, do you want to be a doctor like your dad too? I'm afraid my grandmother is gone by then. The grandson just fiddled with the grass on the lawn without saying a word. The loneliness of the old man is doomed.
How should the relationship between parents and children be defined? Is alienation the only result? When we have to face choices, will we really become more and more selfish as Noriko said? Even if we don't want to? Is it true that when children pursue their own lives independently, the bond with the original family is broken, and it is difficult to make up for it no matter how hard they work? Ozu created so many questions in the film, but did not give any answers.
For us 60 years later, the modern busy life and convenient communication are relative, the distance between people will not be narrowed due to the development of technology, and the distance between souls is far and complicated. much more. I believe that the distance between people is random and accidental. Many people who are close at hand may always look good, but those who are thousands of miles away may have a heart for each other and cherish each other. Maybe it's fate, it's fate. For the elderly, a sincere daughter-in-law who is not a relative but a sincere daughter-in-law and a biological but selfish snobbish son and daughter are such a random combination.
But the old man who lost his old wife can only sit at home alone and enjoy the loneliness alone. For better or worse, the children and daughter-in-law had to leave, leaving him alone, Onomichi's house, Onomichi's river and boat.
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