The concept of "home" has been emphasized and passed down by Confucianism for thousands of years, and has occupied an important position not only in China, but also in the traditional culture of the entire Eastern world. [1] Family ethics films are the carriers for the spread of the concept of "home". "The so-called family ethics film refers to a film with the theme of reflecting social ethics and morality. Films of this kind of theme often take the broad society as the background, and put the events that occur in the family, such as love, marriage and extramarital love, polyamorous love, family disintegration, women's independence, the elderly and infants and children, and other social and moral issues on the screen, causing people to think, and promoting the continuous reform and progress of society. [2] Yasujiro Ozu's Films such as Tokyo Story, Taste of Saury, and Twilight in Tokyo focus on the Japanese family and reflect the family view within the oriental cultural circle. The author aims to present director Yasujiro Ozu's "view of the family" and the traditional "Japanese view of the family" that he recalls through an in-depth analysis of the text "Tokyo Story". In Ozu Yasujiro's family ethics films, there is an authoritative father figure, a mother in a state of absence and aphasia, and a female figure who keeps filial piety. The film also shows the traditional family relationship of Japan's loneliness, expressing the director's reluctance and sadness about the disintegration of traditional family relations, but with the impact of the multicultural environment, traditional ideas and concepts will eventually be impacted by the trend of the times and even annihilated by it, so at the end of the film, it also shows the director's understanding and compromise of the new family relationship.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="2" >, authoritative father figure</h1>
"Patriarchal cultural view" is a typical authoritarian culture in the traditional culture of the East, in the movie the father's supreme authority is reflected, it is the parental authority in the traditional family, the unconditional obedience of children to this authority is the expression of filial piety, thus forming an authority cult, whether it is the child's support for the parents or the practice of the parents' requirements, it is a due obligation, which is the typical "patriarchal cultural view" in Confucian culture. [3] In Ozu Yasujiro's films, the father is an important character with a certain dominance, reflecting the director's obvious "patriarchal cultural view". Interestingly, Yasujiro Ozu insisted on using Kasa Toshizō to play a series of father figures in his films.
"Ozu's film aims to explore the most fundamental things. The most fundamental thing that is reflected in Ozu's film is the relationship between the two generations. [4] The shift in the perspective of the two generations from pre-war to post-war, that is, the transition between father and son to father and daughter, has become the theme of "marrying a daughter". The father, who arranged for his daughter's marriage, "restored the dominance of paternality in traditional Japanese culture, and on the other hand replaced the son in the family with a daughter, and the daughter's dependence on the father diluted the outwardly harsh face of authority." [5] In "Tokyo Story", in the content of the film, we can see that the mother always listens to the father's words, and after being driven out by the daughter, she also directly obeys the husband's words and goes to the second daughter-in-law's house, showing that the mother's image is in a weak position, and the father has absolute right to speak. From the perspective of lens language, it can also reflect the weakness of the mother's image. In the shot, whether the two are walking on the road or sitting, the mother is always behind the father, showing the "male supremacy" family concept in Ozu Yasujiro's consciousness. It shows the social tradition of male supremacy in Japan.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="2" > second, the image of a mother in a state of absence and aphasia</h1>
Anyone who has seen Yasujiro Ozu's films knows that movies about family ethics always do not have the role of mother, or are in a state of aphasia. In "Late Spring" and "The Taste of Saury", the elders in the family are only the father, and the children are raised by the father alone, and because of the early death of the mother, the daughter takes over the role of the mother to some extent and takes care of the father who is the only one. In the film, in addition to the missing state of the mother, there will also be a shackle that even if it appears in the film, it still has aphasia.
From the content of the film, we can see that the mother will always listen to the father's words, and after being driven out by the daughter, she also directly obeys the husband's words and goes to the second daughter-in-law's house, showing that the mother's image is in a weak position. At the end of the film, the mother happily goes to Tokyo to visit the child, but falls ill on the way back and soon dies at home, and the mother's departure represents that the image of the mother is completely aphasia in this film.
From the perspective of lens language, it can also reflect the weakness of the mother's image. In the shot, whether the two are walking on the road or sitting, the mother is always behind the father, showing the family concept of "male supremacy" in Ozu Yasujiro's consciousness, and also showing the Japanese social tradition of male supremacy. The Japanese people's value concept of "each has its own place and its share" makes the female figure in the film can only be under the gaze of the male image, in a state of aphasia or lack.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="2" > third, the female figure of filial piety</h1>
"In the Book of Filial Piety, it is said: 'Filial piety is done by one's relatives, and when one dwells, one respects one, one rejoices in nurturing, one who is troubled by illness, one mourns one mourns one, and one who sacrifices one is severe.'" After the Meiji Restoration, japan, in the context of 'civilization and enlightenment,' still did not forget to preach filial piety in order to educate the people. Believing that "filial piety is the greatest righteousness of human morality" made 'filial piety' the core of the Japanese people's morality for a long time to come. The Japanese way of providing for the elderly is based on filial piety, which is mainly manifested in: supporting parents; respecting and obeying parents; breeding children and grandchildren and making a name for themselves. ”[6]
Director Yasujiro Ozu is deeply influenced by traditional Japanese culture, and even in the film "Tokyo Story", which breaks down in the traditional family model, there are traditional characters, namely The second son and daughter-in-law of Mori TakashiMichi and the unmarried young daughter Kyoko. Kiko is the widow of the second son of the Hirayama couple, and compared to the biological children of the elderly, Noriko is more like the biological children of the two elderly people, treating the elderly like their own parents. When the eldest son and the eldest daughter had no time to take care of their parents for their own affairs, only Noriko deliberately asked the company for leave to take the elderly to play in Tokyo, greeted the elderly and talked about it. Despite the poor living conditions, he is willing to give up some money to honor his parents. After the death of the mother, the willingness to stay with the lonely father stands in stark contrast to the other biological children of the elderly. The youngest daughter Kyoko will greet her parents at home, settle the itinerary of her parents' trip to Tokyo, send her parents to the train station after work, take care of her mother wholeheartedly during her mother's serious illness, express dissatisfaction and anger at her selfish and indifferent brothers and sisters who are busy running after the funeral, chat with her sister-in-law Noriko, and reveal her dissatisfaction and disappointment with the current family status and family members' relationship. From the details of these texts, it can be seen that the "filial piety" of the younger generation to the elders under the traditional Japanese family relationship is displayed in Kyoko and Noriko, two women who keep filial piety.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="2" > fourth, lonely traditional family relationships</h1>
Under the lens of director Yasujiro Ozu, the Japanese family parents and children are superficially harmonious, but on the inside they are very indifferent. The loneliness conveyed in "Tokyo Story" is easy for moviegoers to empathize with. Hirayama and his wife made a trip to Tokyo, but witnessed a weak and disintegrating family relationship, the children worked hard for their own careers, did not have time to take care of the visiting parents, in the son's home, originally a scheduled trip, but because of a dispensable visit was cancelled. Although there was nothing in his father's mouth, there was an unconcealable loss on his face. When they arrived at the home of their daughter Fanzi, the loneliness of the elderly was particularly obvious, and the snobbery and indifference of their daughter made them even more chilling. Later, they were sent by their children to a cheap hotel in Atami for a vacation, but they could not sleep all night. In the early morning, the couple sat on the beach, and Hirayama said softly, "Let's go home, you must be homesick." "The gentle ripples of the seaside, two old people, closely following each other, one after the other, the loneliness is intuitively displayed on the screen. Later in the film, when Mr. and Mrs. Hirayama wander in Ueno Park, they are equally lonely, with the elderly laughing helplessly: "We are homeless now", "Look at how big Tokyo is", "If we lose, we will never find each other again". This reveals the indifference of human feelings, the weakness of family affection, and the bitterness and bleakness. The relationship between Japanese family members is like the father at the end of the movie, as the father says to his daughter-in-law: "Children are more like people they should not bother."
The film shows the details of the disintegration of a family. The son and daughter have their own families and separate lives in Tokyo. Parents from their hometown are only guests at home, speaking politely, living in guest rooms, and living arrangements need to be arranged by the host, which is contrary to the traditional family concept of "orderly long-term and young, fatherly kindness and filial piety". At the end of the film, the mother suddenly died of a serious illness on the way home, and although the children also showed a certain sadness and reluctance, as soon as the funeral was over, they could not wait to leave the home where they had been raised. Showing the indifference of the children can not be shaken by the deceased mother and the lonely father, even death can not change, the end of the film is full of helplessness and pain, conveying the regret of the collapse of the traditional family.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="2" >5, sentimentality about the breakdown of traditional family relationships</h1>
In the proposition of "family", the most core element is the family member. In family ethics films, the shaping of family members' characters is very important. The promotion of the storyline of family ethics films also relies on contradictions, conflicts and disputes between family members. Yasujiro Ozu expresses his regret at the eventual disintegration of the traditional family through the story of his father marrying his daughter.
In a simple and orderly space, Yasujiro Ozu's films show us the joys and sorrows of a family, the gathering and dispersion, and the disintegration, so that we can experience the unique and timeless family relationship he presents in the introverted and gentle images, as well as his lament for the traditional Japanese family model that will eventually pass away under the impact of the process of modernization and industrialization. In Tokyo Story, Yasujiro Ozu tells the story of the old man Shukichi Hirayama and his wife Noborimi who travel from the countryside to Tokyo to visit their children. At the beginning of the film, when Noborimi arrives in Tokyo, she says, "Tokyo is so close," but when she decides to leave, she says, "Tokyo is so far away." The distance from Osaka to Tokyo has not changed, but the distance between the hearts of parents and children, from full of joy and anticipation to desolation and brokenness. The film is bland, concise, natural, and full of life. There is no deliberately rendered sadness, no crying scenes, no complaints, no scolding, but we can always deeply feel their inner world from the actors' calm expressions and lines without abnormal emotions, those repressed dissatisfaction, the taste of loneliness, the painful struggle, the selfish disposition, the indifferent humanity. The indifference of people to family affection is very obvious, Japanese family members after the change of life, the heart is a very desolate state, the collapse of the family is often irreparable, the quiet conveyed by the picture gives people a sense of coldness, reflecting the Japanese understanding of "material mourning". The director slowly narrates the delicate feelings between people with delicate lenses, telling his nostalgia and reluctance to the traditional family model that is about to disintegrate.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="2" >6. Understanding and compromise of new types of family relationships</h1>
In the film Tokyo Story, the daughter Sonko appears to be the most filial and indifferent of the children. She accused her husband of buying too high-grade pastries for the elderly and wasting money; in the face of customer inquiries, she refused to admit the identity of the parents in the countryside, and only dared to say that they were fellow villagers; because the family wanted to hold seminars to expel the parents who returned early because they did not want to waste their children's money on vacation, so that the elderly parents were left on the streets; and regardless of the comfort of the parents, all kinds of behaviors showed the atmosphere of the city, vitriol, and weak human feelings. In the second half of the film, in the face of Kyoko's accusations against her sister's selfish side - "Outsiders still have feelings, flesh and bones should not be like this", the director borrowed Noriko's mouth to say his thoughts: "When children grow up, they will gradually drift away from their parents." My sister is so old, different from her parents, she has her own life, she is not ill-intentioned, everyone values their own lives. This statement shows the director's point of view: children grow up to leave their parents is a natural law, and as the times move forward, family structures and relationships will inevitably change. This approach weakens director Yasujiro Ozu's criticism of "filial piety" children at the end, while also showing his understanding of the new type of family relationship, understanding that the traditional family model will eventually pass away, and the new family relationship will eventually replace the traditional family model.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="2" > conclusion</h1>
As an important part of the ideological level, family ethics is constantly changing with the changes of the times and the development of society. [7] Yasujiro Ozu focuses on the small, solidifying time and space in the lens through the family, and showing the world to the audience. He is not a master of story, nor is he a master of suspense, but he can deeply touch the gradually numb heart through ordinary shots and simple expressions, and also set up an ideal benchmark for film art. Yasujiro Ozu has his own set of independent images, a slightly tilted camera position, often empty lenses, long shots, fixed lenses, compact and concise composition, etc., which constitute Ozu Yasujiro's own image aesthetics. Using his own unique national image aesthetics to present people's daily behavior to express his insight into secular life and human nature itself, and trying to describe the collapse of the Japanese family through the growth of parents and children, it is precisely because of the spirit of "material mourning" that Japan has, in the face of the disintegration of the traditional family model, director Yasujiro Ozu shows more lamentation and nostalgia for the traditional Japanese family model that will eventually pass away.
Therefore, in his films, there are representative figures in the traditional sense: the image of an authoritative father, the image of a mother in a state of aphasia, and the image of a woman who keeps filial piety. But director Yasujiro Ozu doesn't just linger in the past, he also understands the irresistivability of the arrival of new things, and presents it to the audience at the end of the film: don't be too nostalgic for the past, don't be too eager to pursue new things, and seek balance between conflict and collision.
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[2] Jia Leilei, Yuan Zhizhong, Chinese Film Ethics. Chongqing:Southwest Normal University Press,2017.]
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Text/Zhou Lingxiu
Editor/Xiao Yang
The pictures in this article are from the internet