Tokyo Story: Ozu's Portrayal Of Japan's Evolving Society And Family

Surname
Professor
Coursework
Date
Ozu’s portrayal of Japan’s evolving society and family
In 2012, Tokyo Story the best film of all time vote by film directors in a poll conducted by Sight & Sound Magazine. Written and directed by the late Yasujiro Ozu, the drama film was produced in 1952 (Greenspun). It describes an old couple who pay their grown children a visit in Tokyo. The Japanese film describes a generation of busy people who barely pay attention to the older generation, as well as a young kind widow. Immediately, after its production, the film gained international recognition. The Japanese film exporters ensured it received screening in London and New York cities. Elaborating a changing society and family, Tokyo Story has a significant accumulative impact, achieving significant emotional effect with cultural erosion as the characters’ lives transition.
Japanese society and family is changing as revealed in the strong performances. Prior to the Second World War, traditional family structures were conservative. Retirement of the family head (father) was a relief to him as the eldest son assumed the family responsibilities (http://acad.depauw.edu). Even so, that is not the case for Shukishi’s family as his eldest son neglects the family, changes ascribed to the post-World War II. In the early scenes of Tokyo Story, the cinema centers on Shukishi and Tomi – a retired couple living in Omonichi in South West Japan. The movie further dedicates the first scenes to their eldest son, Koichi – a busy pediatrician, their no-nonsense daughter, Shinge – a hairdressing salon owner, and their widowed daughter-in-law, Noriko – an overly kind woman. These scenes observe the family’s dutiful and neglectful relations. Apparently, Koichi and Shige are a very busy people. As such, they admit their parents in a hot spring spa at Atamu, but the aging parents cannot sleep because the nightlife at the hotel was unbearable. Tomi visits her Noriko, whose kindness results into an emotional bond with her mother-in-law, while Shukishi joins his old pals to binge on alcohol in disappointment of his offspring. Shige is also disappointed and angry with his father in fear that he would lapse into alcoholism. Indeed, Ozu strives to create emotional empathy in the disappointed characters but with a remarkable richness on a changing Japanese society.
The film is also admired for its great emotional effect engulfed Ozu’s evolving view of a changing Japanese society and family. According to Hamond, the mastery of the cinema is the emotional empathy build up. As demonstrated earlier, the children of the old couple, while tolerant to their parent, are busy to put up with their visiting aging folks who instead find comfort in a non-relation, Noriko. When the parents return home, Tomi falls sick and succumbs to the illness. After the funeral, the daughter-in-law stays longer than the couple’s children, but eventually has to leave. Shukishi settles into loneliness. acad.depauw.edu elaborates that in traditional society, the head of the family was responsible for the family’s welfare and had control over everything under his roof. More s...