Peccary Gloves: An Ozu Blog

  How Ozu Uses And Doesn’t Use Show Don’t Tell By Eliot Rugh One of the most fascinating aspects of Ozu as a director is what he chooses to show on the screen. In his many films, much of the physical actions of the characters happen off-screen, the marriages, the deaths, and the travel to and from places are all stuff that is rarely or never shown. Characters usually talk with one another about events that have happened instead of seeing the character’s in the scene that they are describing. Having characters describe to each other what they experienced at an event that we were shown creates a different feeling from other more traditional movies. Dialogue becomes the texture of the movie and we, the viewer, come to understand physical activities through the lens of other characters’ words. This is an important aspect of what makes Ozu’s films so different from other films and it leads me to the meat of what I want to talk about. One of the most important aspects of writing especial...

 What is happiness? These two old couples are packing up for the most important things in their life to see their children. They haven’t met them for a long time. Maybe in 12 years, they haven’t visited their parents. For the kids, their parents’ visit means they need to make time for them. But for the parents, this trip will be a meaningful trip. If life is a list, this trip will be on that list, and seeing children will be part of the old couple’s ultimate happiness. Seeing their kids can complete their life and their life will be fulfilled and ready to face death. Even Shukichi and Tomi feel comfortable in their house, but the completeness of life does not makeup only by comfortableness. So, will this trip be the trip of happiness? We know that the first people that complained about this trip are the two sons of Koichi. Everyone in the house has his own place. Kids have study places, placing place and Koichi’s wife usually occupies the kitchen. But when Shukichi and Tomi com...

 Editing Tempo: The editing of the film is strange. Wang’s camera looks like time-lapse photography, which creates a weird tempo of the film. The camera moves really fast when the blonde woman and the first cop are running. The fast running, neon light, and time-lapse effect create a dizzy feeling. The opening shot closely follows the blonde woman. After the fast shot, it is a still shot of some chimneys. Only clouds are moving. Then, we have a fast shot of the first cop, 233 runs. He bumped into a man that carries a fake blonde woman. 233 starts to pay attention to the blond fake man. Suddenly, he starts to chase a man whose head is covered by a paper bag. The camera moves to the opposite street and the audience can only see 233 running but the side walkers are all blended into a time-lapsed blurry background. When the camera follows the running 233, it moves very quickly; when the shot is taken across the street, it moves very slowly. These two points of view are alternating...

 What is Tokyo? We never see Tokyo in a bird’s eye. If this movie is not just about the family of Hirayama, maybe it is the epitome of most families in Tokyo. But what does Tokyo mean to the old couples? In the movies, we only see that the old couples being moved from one place to another place. The next stop is always waiting for them. Tokyo is not a contextual space for old couples. Even when Noriko gives a tour guide to Tomi and Shukichi, the old couples do not walk around Tokyo by themselves and do not have a first-hand experience about Tokyo. Tokyo is still an empty concept for them. For the audience, we know Tomi and Shukichi sit in the city bus but we cannot really see Tokyo. We only see the subway station and the front of an old monument. Ozu filmed this movie after World War two, so Tokyo that the old couple visited was in the post-war period. Reconstruction erases the traditional values and appearance of Tokyo. Thus, Tokyo can be without reference and context for i...

 what is the meaning of the train? At the beginning of Tokyo Story, Ozu gives us some still shots, such as the passing of the train. Throughout the whole film, almost all the transportation are trains. At the end of the movie, one of the closing shots is also a train. If a train has more meaning than transportation, what will that be? The old couple travel to Tokyo by train. A train is a box that carries people to different physical spaces. However, the physical transportation is insufficient to carry the old couple into their children’s hearts. The physical distance and forming of new families already separate the old couple from their children. Kōichi Hirayama, Shige Kaneko and Keizō Hirayama do not make time for their parents visit. Their actions show that the separation of parents and children cannot be overcome by trains. The path of the trains carves geological terrains. From bird's views, trains’ paths look like the path of blood vessels. Maybe train means the continuu...

Why do we even watch movies? Shouldn’t we be reading, or making something, making love, eating or, best of all, sleeping? What is it about movies that keeps me awake? Literally, why do I lose sleep to watch them (and also, to be fair, the occasional novel)? There is something magical, and more encompassing, than say, looking at a painting or photograph or, yes, reading. And which is the nearest thing to a movie? Pictures, paintings or photos, as a movie is made of a bunch of them (and yes, there is a movie that is entirely painted frames—it’s about van Gogh.) Or novels with their stories? Or is it a soundtrack?  Because the first thing is, movies have audio, which of course, music also has. But I’m not one for listening to music. It’s background noise. I'd rather nap or let my mind wander for 90 seconds before starting something. Ozu, generally, uses music like the 90s food pyramid said to use fats and sugar: sparingly. It’s awesome. Sometimes it adds to the...