Ozu was alone all his life. In the early days, he was introduced by a trustee to take a job at the Kamata Photography Factory, a famous Shochiku film company at the time. Later, he joined the army to participate in World War II. He became a prisoner of war in Singapore for half a year before being sent back to China. After returning to China, he returned to his old business, and until his last film "The Taste of Saury", he shot more than 50 films in total. Most of the black and white silent films in the early stage were influenced by many Hollywood films, and the quality and style were mixed. "Late Spring" was a watershed in Ozu's artistic path. Since then, he has gradually formed his own style. The rhythm of the narrative flows like water. In the language of the camera, which is extremely self-respecting and restrained, the desolation of the world is tactfully and tenderly laid out, and the seeds of hope are planted in this desolation. It is Ozu's disappointment but not despair, and there is still a bright creative mentality in the dark, which makes his works reveal a kind of insight and wisdom of the worldly philosopher. Just imagine, without this innocent and stubborn light, without Yasujiro Ozu's stubborn adherence to the art of film, in addition to the endless emergence of strange phenomena in the turbulent film world, after the flashback of the bizarre picture, the star that yearns for tranquility and palpitations. Moving heart, how lonely it should be.
"Tokyo Story" is one of the works shot at a time when Ozu's style has become established and the artistic feeling is still at its peak. The background of the film is that after Japan's defeat in the war, the society was chaotic at that time. Due to the deaths in the war and the people who were forced to leave their homes after the war, traditional Japanese families were faced with the predicament of disintegration, and the entire society was in a transition period. It is against this background of times that Ozu focuses on the daily neglected life. With a simple and natural image style, he presents the neglected human relations, family relationships, loneliness, death, etc. with a kind of quasi-religious ethics, such as a magnifying glass. , after magnifying the details of life, what we see is the sad helplessness and the selfishness of human nature.
The film is based on an old couple who went to Tokyo to visit their children because of their leisure time. The eldest son, Koichi, is a doctor in the community. The arrival of his parents did not bring the family a surprise of reunion after a long absence, but added a lot of trouble. First, the grandson complained that there was no place to put the desk in the room for his grandparents. Later, because Koichi was busy with work, he canceled the plan to go out on Sunday, and the children complained. The arrival of the parents made the family of four suddenly crowded a lot. The son's busyness and reticence, and the grumbling of the grandchildren made the old couple feel abrupt. When the mother said to her grandson who was jumping and picking wildflowers: "You grow up and become a doctor, and I will not be here anymore." One sentence expresses the unspeakable loneliness in the heart of the old man.
Daughter Zhi Xia is a hairdresser. The arrival of the two elderly people brought a lot of inconvenience to her work. When a customer asked who the two elderly people were, she downplayed it and said she was a hometown and scolded her husband for buying expensive cakes. Feed the old man. In order to get rid of the convenience of their parents, Zhixia and Koichi jointly funded their parents, and euphemistically called it "travel to Atami". The noise of Atami made the two old people very uncomfortable, and the insomnia caused by excessive noise at night also buried hidden dangers to the health of the old people. In the picture, when two old people walk one after the other on the dam under the setting sun, the boundless sea is rippling with broken gold, and in the distant view, two old figures are walking, the sad and sad atmosphere makes the film's alienation and loneliness Beautifully explained.
The old man did not complain at all about the indifference of his children, and his father only expressed his confusion and helplessness with the sentence "Zhi Xia used to be very good to people, but now that her daughter is older, she looks like a stranger". Compared with the sense of alienation from their children, the two old people's life segments of knowing the cold, knowing the warmth and relying on each other are a bright color in the film's indifferent atmosphere. When you are young, you are annoying and drunk, and when you are old, you are the most pitiful. The world is so unpredictable, just like this trip to Tokyo, I wanted to get happy comfort from my own children, but unexpectedly I got warmth from my daughter-in-law who has been a widow for many years. When the old man smiled and said, "What a hospitality, let me sleep in the bed of my dead son". The seemingly bland sentence is full of true feelings, not only narrowing the distance between life and death, but also bringing the heart-to-heart between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law closer. The effect of Ozu's lines, which thunders in silent places, can be seen everywhere in the film, and the deep meaning in the dialogue is also one of the biggest features of the film.
When dealing with the characters, Ozu does not attribute human nature to good and evil, but interprets it from multiple angles to make the characters fuller and more vivid. Although the son is indifferent to his parents, he is dedicated to his work; although the daughter is snobby and mean, the moment her mother dies, she is also crying and her true feelings are revealed; although the daughter-in-law is sincere and enthusiastic towards others, she also admits that she has a lonely and vulnerable side. Everyone has a side that people hate, they are very ordinary, ordinary like the people around us, like ourselves. And it is these ordinary characters and trivial matters that make the film more convincing, because they can see their own shadows in them.
The film always lays out the story with a soothing and gentle tone. Whether it is the peaceful smile of the parents or the body movements in the small pattern, the film has a kind of open-mindedness and calmness. While perfectly showing the customs of Japan, the wise man's Elegance is also evident in it.
At the end of the story, the old man sat alone in the sunshine and said to passers-by: "If I had known this, I should have been nicer to her." However, time is ruthless, and things are different. If there is "early knowledge", how can there be "this"? When the old man spends a long time alone, it should be his greatest pleasure to count the past, even those "trouble, loss," become very beautiful in the memory. As her daughter-in-law Noriko said, "I really miss those troubles." Cherish the people in front of you!
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