Chinese Herald The Eastern Ying Years
Author: Mao Limin
"Tokyo Story" is a classic by the late Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu, and the film tells the story of Shukichi Hirayama, who live in Ovomichi, Hiroshima, who go to Tokyo with great anticipation to visit their children who have established a family, meet briefly, taste cold hospitality, and end their trip early and return home alone.
The elderly couple had five children: Koichi, the eldest son of a doctor of medicine, who opened a private clinic outside Tokyo, the eldest daughter, Kaneko Clan, who ran a beauty salon on her own, kiko, who died in World War II, Noriko, a widow who remained widowed for eight years, Keizo, who worked in the Osaka railway section, and Kyoko Sho, a young daughter who worked as an elementary school teacher, lived with her parents.
In order to welcome the arrival of the elderly couple, the eldest daughter-in-law cleaned up the room at home, and the eldest grandson came home from school, found that his study desk had been moved, stared at his mother and quarreled, and asked where to do his homework, although he was not usually reading material.
The old couple first arrived at the eldest son's house, with the unique Japanese etiquette and old-fashioned language of the 1950s, the ceremonial greetings were unobstructed, but the restraint was slightly raw, shortly after entering the door, the eldest son beckoned the parents who came from afar to go to the hot bath first, when discussing dinner, the eldest daughter felt that Sukiyaki (Japanese hot pot), there was enough meat, the eldest daughter-in-law proposed whether to need sashimi, the eldest son said no. After the meal, the four parents and children were a good opportunity to talk for a long time, and after the children asked about the situation of their former hometown neighbors and received corresponding replies, the eldest son stopped abruptly and proposed that the parents be tired and rest early, but in fact, the parents were still unsatisfied.
On the morning of the holiday, the eldest son originally led the whole family to accompany his parents out, unfortunately came a person, said that there was a patient in a poor condition, the eldest son decided to immediately observe, the play plan failed, the two grandchildren made a big fuss, in order to ease the atmosphere, the grandmother wanted to ask them to go outside, the eldest grandson ignored it, although the young grandson obeyed, but there was no physical contact with the grandmother, nor did he communicate with the grandmother, when the grandmother asked: What do you want to do when you grow up? The young grandson only cares about pulling grass and playing with itself, and the old woman only has to circle herself: will she be a doctor like your father, and then the grandmother will not know whether she is still in this world? The vast and deep sky and large grassy slopes reflect the extraordinarily small figures of grandchildren.
When she arrived at the eldest daughter's place, the son-in-law bought back pastries from Asakusa and was complained by her daughter: delicious is delicious, it is expensive, too wasteful, there are many Japanese crispy rice cakes at home, anyway, parents like it. Children have no time to accompany the elderly, the eldest daughter is to call the second daughter-in-law Noriko, her husband has died, in fact, there is no obligation to receive the second elder, she asked the company for leave, the next morning to accompany the sightseeing of Tokyo, and then the second elder was taken back to his simple apartment, borrowed from the female neighbors with the remaining sake and green pepper dishes, and then ordered takeaway, personally poured wine for the father-in-law, handed a bowl to the mother-in-law, sat quietly and gently shook the tuan fan for the two of them.
The eldest daughter, who was waiting at home, discussed with the eldest son who came to the door: send her parents to the cheap hot spring hotel in "Atami", and the eldest son said bluntly that if he accompanied himself, he would have to spend it.
Quiet sea, winding beautiful scenery, and the hotel at night mahjong sound, guitar, accordion, singing noise in stark contrast, the old couple in the sound insulation of the tatami difficult to sleep, the next morning early to the coast, facing a group of young people play place, the old man sighed: Tokyo has seen, Atami has seen, it is time to go back to their home.
For the parents who returned to the eldest daughter's beauty shop early, the daughter looked displeased, when the customer asked who it was? The eldest daughter claimed to be an acquaintance in the countryside and asked her parents why they stayed for a few more days, ironically, asking what they had eaten there, and the old mother replied that there were sashimi and so on. Sending the parents to travel, originally wanted to leave time and space for themselves, the eldest daughter confessed that there was a centralized lecture at home at night, there was no preparation for the parents' shelter, the old man while packing up his belongings while joking: Now it has become homeless. So it was decided to act separately: the old woman went to the second daughter-in-law's house for one night, the old man went to visit his old friend Hattori Sang, hoping to get a stay, but the second floor of the old friend's house was rented to a college student, so he asked another friend Numata Sang to go to the small hotel together, originally wanted to drink all night, but after the hotel closed at 12 o'clock in the evening, the drunken old man and a friend were taken back to the eldest daughter by the police, causing the latter to be angry. On the contrary, the old woman was warmly entertained by the second daughter-in-law, and after The old man beat his back and massaged the two of them, they lay next to each other, and before leaving the next day, Kiko warmly sent pocket money, which made the old woman moved.
The eldest son, eldest daughter, and Kiko went to the station to send off the old man. When she arrived at her eldest son's house the day before, the old woman said that Tokyo was so close, and she was still in her hometown yesterday, and she saw you today; when she was about to leave, she said: Tokyo is too far away, and even if there is anything in the future, there is no need to rush back. The eldest daughter also blamed her mother for being a parting word.
The old mother was unwell and stopped at Osaka San'er's place in the middle of the way, and the disturbed san'er was extremely impatient, and when a colleague asked about her mother's age, she couldn't be sure whether it was 67 or 68.
Shortly after the old couple returned to the town, kyoko, the youngest daughter next to her, sent a telegram to her brother and sister that her mother was critically ill, and the eldest son and eldest daughter returned home with mourning clothes after discussion, and when the doctor's eldest son saw the old mother's condition, he asserted that the life expectancy was the next morning, and finally, the nearest third son failed to catch up. After the funeral, after the eldest daughter asked for her mother's beautiful kimono and fine linen, she and her brother rushed to return with the "rush" of the night, and the three sons who were originally said to be able to stay also left because of baseball, but the "marginal" Noriko stayed for a few more days, so that the old man said: Obviously he has his own children, but the "outsider" in front of him has paid the most for them, and said that the time spent with her in Tokyo is the happiest for them. As a beautiful Noriko (played by Hara Setsuko) in the film, her appearance is different from that of traditional Japanese actresses, her facial features are deep, she has Westernized beauty, she is both gentle and virtuous, independent and stoic, talented, and her bright smile is very healing. On the day of the parting, Noriko prepares a box lunch for Kyoko and repeatedly invites Kyoko to come to Tokyo during the summer vacation, and finally the dialogue between the sisters-in-law becomes a kind of theme catharsis: Kyoko feels that her brothers and sisters are too selfish, And Noriko advises them: forgive them, they already have their own families, everyone puts themselves first, and if she remarries herself in the future, she will be the same as them, although she does not want to, she has to change. Kyoko can't help but wonder and be disappointed: this world is too frustrating. Just like at the beginning, the old couple had "long" expectations for the trip to Tokyo, and the two conversations between the old man and the neighbors and the old woman in the eldest son's house with Noriko before the departure used "a while", but the reality was that the reciprocation was completed within ten days, and soon the old woman was at the end of her life.
Leaving aside Ozu Yasujiro's special personal label, as well as some specific sensitive topics, "Tokyo Story" is a drizzle of family affection films, the director did not take a critical attitude towards the children in the film, but objectively described, thinking that this is an inevitable phenomenon of social development, the traditional Oriental family model, as parents and children fall apart and face disintegration, the helplessness of life, into a sigh. Similar plots may also happen to every ordinary person today, and it seems that there will be no sense of harmony in substituting the current characters, places, etc. into the above bridges. With the wave of migrant workers in the city and the trend of studying abroad (studying) in the 1980s, a large number of left-behind parents were derived. As the parents of the first generation of only children continue to enter the elderly, by 2030, China's empty nest elderly will increase to more than 200 million, and such helplessness and heartache will eventually envelop every elderly person's heart. Some elderly people do not use smart phones, do not understand online shopping, the scope of interpersonal relations shrinks, and gradually disconnect from society, and the distance between people is inversely proportional to social progress and development, which is also the future that each generation will face. The old man and the old man believe that this kind of love has its own origin and will have a place to return.
In the past, it was common for three generations to form a family, and it was common for the old, middle and small to watch "Four Generations Together" together, once upon a time, the traditional model was changed, and the children who married were self-reliant, which also led to Mr. Zhao Puchu's mention: The parents' home is always the child's home, and the child's home is never the parent's home. A domestic friend sent a post: there is a retired old mother who lives alone, from time to time to cook some dishes, sew some female red to send to her children's home, think that it is her own greatest happiness, but was tired of her children and refused: don't send it again. The mother suddenly felt very lost: usually the children are busy at work, waiting for them to visit themselves, do not know the year of the monkey, take advantage of their own sports, may wish to take the initiative, painstakingly, change the pattern to take some items to the past, but there is a reason to see the children. Perhaps, the "Four Generations Together" has already sunk into Taiping Lake with Mr. Lao She.
Filial piety has always been a traditional virtue of the Chinese nation, if everyone pursues a little more care for their parents than themselves, whether it can form a virtuous circle of "old age and dependence" for each generation, just like the fool who moves the mountain: the children and grandchildren are endless.
Five years ago, when my mother was dying, my father called me back, and after learning that I had booked a ticket, my father, who was alone with me, condensed into two sentences of words to my mother, the first sentence: "I am"; the second sentence: "Li Min is coming back", under the weakness of returning to heaven, any other language was pale, and my mother, who had been tormented by cancer pain, was in the final state of quiet sleep, although she could not speak, but her consciousness was clear, and when she heard my father's chanting, tears could not stop flowing from both sides of the closed eye sockets, and finally I was still too late. Now whenever I think back to the scene that my father told me, I always burst into tears. Sometimes I wonder if I should "my parents are here, not far away"? I used to think that Shanghai to Japan was very close, but after a two- or three-hour voyage, I felt that Japan was so far away from Shanghai that I couldn't chase the footsteps of my mother's departure, did I really fulfill that sentence: All love in the world is for encounter, only the love of parents is for separation?