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Cinema Ozu (26b): What Will Become of Our Children?

As I mentioned in last night's article, The Only Son is the only film thus far that specifies definite dates for different periods in the film. Past Ozu films have seen time pass, marked by "three years later" and so on, but this one is the most defined by its era. Not only does it come after the end of the Enlightened Rule (Meiji) period, but it specifically ties to the events of 1923, 1935, and 1936 (the year the film was released).

[A quick primer on the naming of Japanese emperors: they all have a given name, like the Pope, but once Emperor, it's like it never existed. Americans and other non-Japanese people generally use this name for them, even though to do so is a terrible disrespect in Japan. While alive, they are simply The Emperor. When they die, they are referred to posthumously by the period of Japanese history they ruled over. I'm going to do my best to respect Japanese custom while at once identifying them by their common names used in the States.]

I'm not the biggest Japanese history scholar, but I at least know that the Meiji period was big for emphasis on higher education unlocking one's future. It's odd how the nearly 50% unemployment rate among college graduates in Japan a couple of decades after Meiji eerily mirrors current events. Meiji the Great (Mutsuhito) had a generally chaotic reign until his death in 1912.

A little emperor to be?

He was followed by Taisho (Yoshihito), who died in 1926. Taisho's short reign was characterized by the liberal democratic movement, but that was all undone with the reign of Emperor Showa (Hirohito), who remained Emperor until 1989.

Industrial waste that makes a return cameo from An Inn in Tokyo

Showa encouraged and supported the invasion of Machuria and all sorts of other terrible things, though he was not brought up on war crimes charges like all of his cohorts. The rapid militarization and industrialization of Japan seen throughout all of Ozu's surviving films is a fascinating angle on this ramp up to World War II. I'll dig into more about the war and related subject in a short side-series after Ozu's last pre-war movie (What Did the Lady Forget?).

The Only Son is a rather groundbreaking movie in a few respects For one, it shows the women caged up like factory chicken spinning silk. This was one of those things that wasn't really depicted in movies at the time. The industrialization was happening, with more things lining shop shelves and factories springing up everywhere, but no one was really seeing "how the sausage is made", so to speak. The silk industry boomed for years right on the backs of women who were treated more like livestock than human beings. It could be called a rather big choice, and one that was not made by chance. Also somewhat remarkable, as Bordwell notes, is that Ozu made a movie aimed at the female demographic market that concerned the hopelessness of grand dreams and expectations for children.

As Ozu's first talkie, it's notable that not only did Ozu hold off on making talkies longer than other Japanese directors (who came to sound slower than others), but he insisted on using Hideo Mohara's sound capture system. Mohara had been Ozu's cinematographer for a while, and he had a different method that Ozu deemed better than the one used by all other Shochiku studio productions. This caused him some trouble, and eventually resulted in the movie being mostly shot in the old Kamata studio that was being abandoned in favor of the new Ofuna studio.

The "Germany" poster

Mother and son at the movies

Stylistically, Ozu himself would later say that he made Only Son as "a talkie in the style of a silent film". In fact, it was originally conceived and scripted as a silent film called Tokyo is a Nice Place (carrying on the title theme from College is a Nice Place). He includes a jab at the onset of talkies, which he felt were gimmicky. Even though he was making aone, Ozu's rejection of talkies is bluntly on display when Ryosuke and Otsune go to a movie.

The talkie for snoozing

The movie in question (according to Bordwell) is Forst's 1933 Schubert biopic Leise flehen meine lieder. A bit of the film plays, sans subtitles. Mom starts to doze off, bored. This and a "Germany" poster seen at one point are the only references to German influence beginning to seep into Japan at a national level.

A Carol Lombard pinup that can also be seen in Ryosuke's house

Sometime tomorrow, I'll have an "Appendix" piece on Choko Iida, who collaborates with Ozu for a while yet after her landmark performance in The Only Son. We still have a lot of ground to cover with Chishu Ryu before we get around to his "Appendix".

(background l. to r.) Iida, Himori, and Ryu

Shinichi Himori (adult Ryosuke) previously appeared in I Graduated, But... as the tailor who couldn't get paid no matter what he did and in Days of Youth. He'd only make one more movie with Ozu after this (There Was a Father), but he played the major role of Kimura in Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru. Himori's young counterpart, Masao Hayama (young Ryosuke), first acted on film in I Was Born, But... and would also appear in Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family and What Did the Lady Forget?.

Yoshiko Tsubouchi

Yoshiko Tsubouchi (Ryosuke's wife Sugiko) will appear in a few more Ozu movies through the late 40's, but never in much more than a supporting role. Her biggest role for Ozu was as Otoki the young actress in 1934's Story of Floating Weeds.

"Tokkan Kozo" (l.) and Mitsuko Yoshikawa (r.)

Mitsuko Yoshikawa (widow Otaka) had a 58-year-long career overall, ending in 1984. Unfortunately, most of her earliest work is lost in the silent era. For Ozu, Yoshikawa is most remembered as the mother in I Was Born, But... opposite Tatsuo Saito. She had quite a run, working with Yoshida, Naruse, Shimizu, and Nomura.

Tomoko Naniwa (Mr. Okubo's wife, r.) also appeared in A Couple on the Move for Ozu. The Only Son was the last film in which she would ever appear.

Seiichi Kato (Kinjo, a neighborhood kid), who played the rich executive's son in I Was Born, But..., would not make any more films for Ozu, though he'd make a few more films post-war, retiring from acting at 22.

Tomibo and the (pretty scrawny) horse

The inimitable Tomio "Tokkan Kozo" Aoki (widow Otaka's son Tomibo) would only make one more movie with Ozu, What Did the Lady Forget?. He's got an "Appendix" of his own coming soon as well.

This movie in particular reminds me of something I've been known to rail about. "You haven't lived enough to understand" is an argument I've heard used against young critics and bloggers, and I tend to agree when it genuinely applies. Growing up, I grew just as sick of adults assuming I didn't know anything or didn't understand things when I did, but what these "old cranks" are getting at is something different. Everyone needs reference points, or language and culture are meaningless. How can you understand what someone is saying if they speak a different language? Either you understand and feel what's happening in The Only Son, or you will.

A full review of the Two Films by Yasujiro Ozu set is still forthcoming, and it will further supplement the entries found in Cinema Ozu. Likewise, There Was a Father will still get its own article once we reach that point chronologically. Up next is Ozu's last pre-war film, What Did the Lady Forget?. I hope to also get some Appendices completed tomorrow too, but we shall see. We'll take a break over the weekend and pick back up with Ozu & The War next week.

Cinema Ozu is a limited-run series of articles about the career and impact of Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu. My primary intent is to chronicle my own journey through his films, a fair number of which I have seen, but even more of which I have not. The most essential research tools I have used are David Bordwell's book Ozu and the Poetics of Cinema and definitive Ozu fansite "Ozu-san".

The series is also timed to celebrate the July 2010 U.S. release of The Only Son and There Was a Father as a DVD double-set by The Criterion Collection. You can find all entries in Cinema Ozu here. New to the series? It's best to start from the beginning.