How Ozu Uses And Doesn’t Use Show Don’t Tell

 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 especially in film is the phrase show don’t tell. In this blog post, I want to examine how Ozu uses the show don’t tell technique and how he chooses not to use it. 

I am going to examine how Ozu neglects to use show don’t tell in his movies compared to other movies. The perfect example of this is in Early Summer where Noriko’s nephews run away from home when they become annoyed by their father and Noriko goes to Kenkichi Yabe’s house. Noriko then asks for his help in finding the children, he readily agrees and as they head out the scene cuts to after the search when the children have been found as all is well. This is important because this interaction is important for understanding how eventually Noriko and Yabe end up together but it is not shown. This exists in opposition to how more traditional films operate. A more traditional film would have shown at least in some part the conversation that Noriko and Yabe had with each other or it would have shown them finding the kids or hearing that someone found the kids. Many of these things could have shown the relationship that Noriko and Yabe had with each other. The decision not to show any of this marks an important choice in the direction of the film. It changes the emphasis of the film from one action to one focused on the dialogue between people. This lack of physical action or scene change is prominent throughout Ozu’s film, he does not like showing physical action much rather having other characters tell other characters what happened. Now I think it would be wrong of me to claim that Ozu uses no show with his character but that he uses it in a very different way. 

Ozu’s use of show don’t tell relies more on the acting of the characters in the scene to discover true emotions and thoughts. This brings a different edge to how one understands Ozu’s films. There is so much more implied and unsaid in the faces of the characters. The one that strikes me the most is in Tokyo Story after Noriko and Tomi talk about remarrying and being happy there is so much left unsaid by their faces and their body language. Much of the interpretation of the scene requires the viewer to understand the emotions at play in the scene. This leads to scenes being far more real and life-like because the viewer is being asked to interpret the emotions of the characters through their words and actions. Only having access to a character's facial expression and their words add to this quality of uncertainty that runs throughout our regular life. People are never sure about each other's intentions and sometimes it is a struggle to properly convey the right emotions. Ozu perfectly captures the chaos and uncertainty of life on film using the show don’t tell technique in very specific ways. 

It is also important to realize how the lack of action and showing important events also shapes Ozu’s films to be more life-like. The absence of the most important events, it allows for the parts of life that Ozu wants to show. For example, when Noriko is showing Tomi and Shukishi around Tokyo the places that they visit are never shown but the traveling and one scene on top of a random building is shown in great detail. In highlighting these interactions Ozu is making an argument for what makes up life, that the small stuff that happens around us make up much larger and more important parts of our lives than we think and that focusing on those small moments allows us better access into who people are. Ozu would not be himself if did not do either of these things.