What's Up with the Uncle? (Adam Davis)

Aside from Isamu, the uncle was my favorite character in Early Summer, but I don’t fully understand his purpose in the broader arc of the film. I’d like to share some thoughts about his character, and hopefully clear up some of my own confusion in the process. 

The first thing I noticed in the sequence involving the uncle is how seamlessly he fits into the family dynamic. His presence doesn’t seem to cause any disruption at all. This is especially notable in contrast with Tokyo Story, in which the parents’ visit causes significant and unwelcome upheaval in everyone’s lives. This contrast was particularly obvious in the interactions with the children. In Tokyo Story, the kids resent the grandparents’ presence, which is evident in scenes such as the argument about Minoru’s desk. In Early Summer, on the other hand, the children simply accept the uncle as if he’s always been there. They treat him neither with particular respect nor disdain, but simply as another family member, which results in the one of the funniest scenes of any Ozu movie: Isamu’s attempt to ascertain whether or not he is deaf. This was also the scene where the uncle’s personality is revealed most. It seems like he’s playing the character of Deaf Uncle, making Isamu think he can’t hear him, and then surprising him by turning around and laughing to himself when the little boy runs away.  

It’s hard to tell for sure, but I think he exaggerates his deafness quite a bit, using it either for comedic effect, or as a way of engaging in conversations only to the extent that he wants to. In the conversation with Noriko under the Buddha statue, for example, he comments that it’s about time for her to marry, but then conveniently fails to hear her response. When she asks if he knows of any good men who can provide her with what she needs in a husband, he responds, “Yes, it’s a fine day.” He wanted to suggest the idea marriage to her without being pulled into any further discussion of the matter, which he accomplishes with his exaggerated deafness: it allows him to select what he’s obligated to respond to. 

It seems possible that the uncle’s visit actually had more of an impact on the family than it appeared to. Granted, everything seems to continue routinely during his stay, but this family runs like a well-oiled machine, and the introduction of even a slight outside influence—the tiniest disruption of the routine—has the potential to throw it off balance. Perhaps the uncle’s visit, which initially seems to cause little or no disturbance, actually creates a great ripple effect in the family. In fact, I think he acts as one of the primary motivating factors for Noriko’s eventual decision to marry. 

There are several things that support this theory. Out of the four major Uncle scenes, two of them are conversations where he suggests that Noriko marry. Why would this character spend half his screen time urging Noriko to marry, if the character’s main purpose wasn’t to implant the idea in her head? Furthermore, of all the times in the film that someone suggests marriage, Noriko seems most open to the idea in the scene under the Buddha statue. I think she probably takes his opinion a lot more seriously than she lets on, and I don’t see very many other reasons that Noriko would start to take the idea of marriage seriously, aside from consideration of the uncle’s advice. 

There are two conclusions that come out of these thoughts: the first is that the uncle is a lot more aware of what’s going on than he seems, and the second is that he has a significant impact on the plot, despite the appearance of being unimportant. This is a great example, I think, of Ozu’s subtlety, and the need to pay close attention to the subtext in order to truly understand what’s going on in his films.