Camera Work (India Lott)

 

The first technical thing I really noticed in “Tokyo Story” was the way the camera was used. It’s quite different from movies I have seen I the past. Often times, it is placed on the ground, or we see the characters through a doorway, sometimes several doorways away. I find that the camera on the ground can inspire different feelings. In some, I feel it gives a sense of closeness. These are the shots where people are sort of “stacked” against each other, such as some of the first shots, where we see Shukichi and Tomi in their home. To me, the shot gives us the feeling that this place is lived-in and a little cluttered. The most striking thing, though, is that actors are situated so that they seem to be a part of the scene they are in and match their surroundings. They seem to belong where they are, and I think this is really reinforced in the way the camera is on the ground. It gives it a feeling of being grounded.

            I feel that we get this same effect in Noriko’s apartment. It is a very small space, but the way they sit around the table gives it some depth. The actors rarely seem to be directly in front of each other, but here Tomi and Shukichi are sitting straight across from each other, though interestingly, the conversation is mainly between Tomi and Noriko. Shukichi seems somewhat secondary in this scene, as Noriko talks about her struggles with their son as her husband. This scene has a lot of intimacy, as I feel Tomi and Noriko understand each other’s problems.

            But I think that the opposite effect can be achieved through the same means. In the scenes that take place at the doctor’s house, I feel it is mostly disorienting. We see the actors from the ground and through several doorways, but to me this place is mostly just sterile, and the layout of their house is hard to understand from just watching the movie. I think this effect makes the actors seem far away, maybe a little unreachable or unapproachable. We also look slightly up at them, as the actors themselves are usually standing. They don’t seem quite comfortable in their environment, at least not in the way we see in the scene at the grandparents’ home or Noriko’s apartment.

            There is an interesting use of this theme later on the movie. When Tomi is sick, we get a shot of a couple of the children and father standing from a distance, and then sitting down. This makes me feel that there is some grounding in the scene, as they are discussing Tomi’s fate as a family and as they are sitting down with each other. When they are standing, they feel faraway, but the moment they sit, there comes a feeling of great intimacy, broken shortly thereafter by the doctor departing.

            The camera in this movie is really unlike most films I’ve seen, and some of it took a little getting used to (such as the characters speaking directly at the camera), but I feel that it adds a lot to the feeling and themes.