What’s up with the vase?
Late Spring is the most mysterious Ozu movie for me because I cannot make sense of everything that he puts into it, among them the scene when Noriko talks to her father right before sleep. A bit of context: This is after she has agreed to marry and the two of them travel together for the last time. Here, they have the chance to meet Onodera’s wife. Afterwards in the scene when they’re about to go to sleep, she reflects on what she said about Onodera and his wife and regrets saying nasty things about their relationship.
Then she says to her father: “I can’t stand you doing the
same thing (aka remarrying), but…”, looks to her father just to realize that he
has fallen asleep. We never know the latter half of what she is about to say, “but…”
what? Is she going to approve of her father remarriage, or she still holds on
to what she thinks?
She is about to turn to see her father sleeping already.
She looks at her father.
She turns back, but still there is a smile on her face. I
read that as content and happiness, maybe at this point she has reconciled with
the thought of marriage and her father remarriage. But then something changes. Right
after this shot, Ozu cut to a vase. We have never seen this vase before, and it’s
so strange that Ozu just cuts right to a random object. Or is it really random,
is there a meaning behind this vase?
This is the vase. I don't even know if this is a POV or just a separate image that Ozu includes. But the significant thing is that after this shot, we see a
drastic change on Noriko’s face.
Here, she’s sullen, stiff and the happiness that I detected
just a few seconds ago is gone without a trace. What happened? She maintains
this face throughout the rest of the scene, and this whole sequence ends with
the image of the still vase.
great post
ReplyDeleteI too found this scene really striking. I think Ozu is trying to present that feeling of anticipation when you can't sleep. This reminds me of every Christmas Eve as a child but it also has a strange tension present. I think, because of Norikos doubts, that she is happy but tense. the trip with her father proved to be comforting as she says in the morning but its bitter sweet as she's trying to make her last night last. tomorrow she no longer will have the same relationship with her father.
ReplyDeleteThis is a question, that I think has many others spiraling out of it. I think the next scene might shed light on what has transpired. As she and her father are packing, she takes issue with the idea of marrying. As is revealed, she then asks her father to stay with him. The scene proceeds as follows:
ReplyDelete(Light spirits):
Father: Satake will dote on you, I'm sure (smile leaves his face as he looks at Noriko)
(camera cuts to Noriko, frowning now)
F: What's the matter
N: I...want us to stay as we are (looks at father, possibly with tears)
the next lines are about how she thinks her happiness is with her father as things are, unchanging. She thinks marriage won't make her any happier. she's content with this life.
F: Yes, but that's...
N: No, no. You marry if you want to, father. I just want to be by your side.
The scene that starts the conflict about the utility of marital happiness, but I wanted to look here because I think it reveals what happened to Noriko. I think this dialogue can help us narrow down why she feels sad after the vase cut. Firstly, she now doesn't seem to be objecting to his marriage on principal, as she seems to genuinely mean here that he can remarry with her blessing. Second, it also seems like it is not that she is saddened by the thought of his marriage meaning less time for the two of them, because here, she obviously thinks that even if he marries, they will still be able to carry on with the same dynamic as now (misguided as that might be).
So what is it that she is saddened by in the vase scene? I think this is the correct reading, because she feels the same way this next morning. One possibility might be that she is saddened by the idea of change itself. Marriage is a big step, because it will no longer be her and her father, rather it will be her and her husband. I'm trying to imagine myself in her shoes. She has just travelled a long way with her father, and witnessed the joyous remarriage of Mr. Onodera. Any child with a heart would be want that sort of bliss for their parent. But then she realizes her father is asleep. Would my focus turn back to my own life? I'm now going to get married. Am I ready for that? What if this is the last time that me and my father can ever be this close again? this thought seems bound to come up. And if that's the case, Why wouldn't I try to cling to my father? After all, aren't I happy with him, happy with who I am right now?
These are speculative, but it seems that a discussion of marriage in the context of her father would have to trigger her thoughts of her own marriage, and what that would mean for her. This is a good question.
I'm glad you (who?) wrote about the vase -- a strangely moving image. An esteemed friend told me that this vase reminded him of the feeling he got when reading the bit in the Iliad of Achilles abd Patroclus being buried in the same urn. Is there a kind of funerary stillness to this vase? -- as it finally hits Noriko that her previous life is about to come to an end.
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