Oh Noh -- Late Spring (Lester Fu)

    There are plenty of discussions and analysis on the Noh play scene in Late Spring. The idea that the lyrics embody a sense of change and transient nature of life, while Noriko finds resistance within herself to accept the change is very helpful. It shows the contrast between what happens on stage and what happens in the audience. Nevertheless, another idea pointed out that for us, Noriko herself is on stage as well, both the stage set up on screen and the stage of her life ("All the world's a stage" -- Billy Shaky). Later on in the film her wedding dress in some way resembles the main character's costume in the Noh play, which, raises another possible interpretation of the scene in terms of Noriko's resistance. It is possible that apart from feeling invaded by the potential new wife and potential new life of her father's, Noriko also feels reluctant to dress up like the character on stage and take on the role of a wife. 

    Furthermore, the several glances she cast between her father and the potential wife may also indicate her questioning whether the lady over there (the potential wife) is what her father and the society expect her to be. Taking a close look at Noriko and her father's clothing and the lady's, it is obvious that both Noriko and her father are wearing modern clothing while the lady and the character on stage are wearing traditional clothing. 


    The difference in clothing may also indicate that the struggle Noriko faces is in nature a struggle between traditional and modern values. Recalling her comment on how "filthy" it is for a man to remarry, it seems that in order for her to follow the traditional path and become a wife, she needs to accept the uncomfortable possibility that her father may follow a more modern path and remarry. In this way, the dilemma Noriko faces during the Noh play seems to be one that cannot be resolved externally. Therefore, perhaps the only exclamation we could hear from Noriko's face is a simple and clear "Oh no", from a place of despair and resignation -- despair and resignation faced by people living in the transition period of two different value systems. And oh no, we all know how much humans tend to resist changes.



Comments

  1. Krishnan VenkateshDecember 30, 2021 at 10:05 AM

    Very thoughtful. I wonder if Noriko also doesn't want a life that involves sexual passion, and is perfectly content with the asexual purity of her relationship with her father. It's certainly an attachment to stasis and a resistance to the animal drive of life -- but also compatible with the contemplative stillness of tea ceremony, Noh play, and Zen garden, and her father's scholarship. After the anguish and horrors of war, stillness might not be terrible.

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