"Tokyo Story" was filmed in 1953. The background is Japan that is gradually resurrecting from the ruins of defeat. About this film, Ozu said: "I try to describe the collapse of the Japanese family through the growth of parents and children." Here, how do we pass Ozu To stare at an irreversible tragedy based on the "Human Condition" created by the family popular drama. The
material is
a story: The Hirayama couple who lived in Onomichi went to Tokyo to meet with their children who were married, and their mother died after returning to Onomichi at the end of the journey. After the funeral, the children returned to work. The
same camera position: the camera position three feet off the ground, fixed at the sight level of a traditional Japanese sitting on a tatami, staring at the reunion and separation of the two generations of the Hirayama family.
Simple composition: due to restrictions angle and position of the camera, the picture is simplified, compact and clean composition.
consistent action: actor facial expression rarely changes, Hirayama old couple packed their bags and roll fan, walking pace or even almost mechanical consistency.
a form cycle: the beginning of the movie, its neighbors through the window to greet and bless a happy journey; before the end of the film, its neighbors through the window loses his wife Hirayama Hirayama couple went to tokyo and children return Onomichi funeral comfort, and the formation of another cycle in the scene alternately on..
nothing
The compact and simple picture, the minimum storytelling, the fixed-position camera (the camera only moved two lenses in this film), Ozu's deliberate depression has been extremely obvious. At the beginning of the film, our focus was set on the Hirayama couple. The upcoming trip to Tokyo will be a journey full of expectations for the audience. However, we did not find the excitement or the embarrassment of the expectation of meeting their children on their faces. They just packed their bags intently and with an unusually coordinated movement. , The scene of the carriage is omitted, and the gossip all the way is less narrative, the screen goes directly to the Tokyo Chimney, and then cuts to the elder son's house, and the "Tokyo Story" is unfolded.
After the film is running for 20 minutes, the audience will suspect that the director has no intention of telling a wonderful story. As Hirayama and his daughter-in-law get along and talk in different scenes. Ozu is just a very true and simple capture of the gossip between the two generations. The picture eliminates the plot of the pursuit of turbulence and forgets the interference of the story. In the calm gaze, we will feel the emotions that permeate the aroma of Ozu style wine while being impatient.
Abandon the story, the succinct performance of the actors, and the deliberately suppressed The emptiness brought about by the situation makes the movie viewers stunned. A full wine glass is overflowing with the helplessness of the Hirayama couple's hopelessness. The children have no time to take care of the family's loss for their livelihoods, and they are helpless in the face of death.
Ozu is based on popularism. A drama is used to make a movie, but what he is interested in is by no means a dramatic story. All the emotions contained in the current situation of people are exactly what Ozu attempts to express through the composition, dialogue, and scene editing arrangements.
The taste of human conditions is
due to Ozu. Deliberately calm, in the almost unchanging balance picture, parallel editing, coordinated movements, and peaceful expressions, any slightly changed composition or character situation may produce emotional waves. In the unchanging balance shot, the film author almost gave up to the audience In the opportunity of explanation, the audience is only forced to watch the real details presented in front of them. When the balance is broken, the rhythm naturally forms.
In the film, we just follow Ozu to watch the old Hirayama couple in the only gap in the world of children, except Little children, no one has ever quarreled or had unhappiness. Until the trip to Atami, the old couple couldn't sleep well all night, Hirayama Zhouji's fan, which was swaying faster and faster, was cooled down while cutting into the corridor of the camera. , The boredom and high mood seems to be absorbed by the empty mirror. According to the analysis of Donaldridge and Paul Sharad, Ozu likes to use the empty mirror of the still life to create the so-called "emotional container". The director attributed the complex feelings of the characters to Some kind of simple still life, and this thing is far more profound than the emotions we see and feel.
Similarly, at the family gathering after the funeral, Hirayama's children advised him to drink less and take care of his body. He just Say: "Yes,..." Then a side shot of him drinking, maybe because side shots are rare in Ozu movies, the audience will feel sad. In short, Ozu will always try to catch Live in a "smell of human condition".
A kind of viewing
In "Tokyo Story", Ozu did not design a symbolic picture, because he did not intend to form an unfair interpretation of the characters. He just accurately calculated the timing and time of the scenes, and reserved space for the audience. Emotional communication is only through this indirect way. The end can be an effortless play, but it is so laid out that people feel that Ozu has something to say. We can’t tell whether Hirayama and Kiko accept this fact, because Ozu President Only fix the camera in a position where you can watch coldly, and convey the complex and detailed and strong feelings of the family stories of secular civilians one after another.
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