"Tokyo Chorus": A warmth that cannot be smudged in tragedy

Quiet and timeless, in the film world of the famous Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu, people feel this faint feeling the most. Simple and clean picture, fade in and fade out of the clip... Choosing a quiet afternoon or dusk, sipping a cup of tea, and watching a movie by Ozu is enough to isolate people from the hustle and bustle of the outdoors, and find that calm and tranquility in the light and shadow constructed by Yasujiro Ozu.

The sixty-year cycle of reincarnation that has passed through his life has drawn a complete circle to Ozu Yasujiro's life. Ozu Yasujiro, who has never married in his life, has been with his mother for a lifetime, and since he first directed a film at the age of 24, Ozu Yasujiro's film road is like his life, there is no climax and no big ups and downs, like a long stream of thin water, it seems that the flow under the waves is slowly gentle.

"Tokyo Chorus" is a film directed by Yasujiro Ozu in the early days, mainly telling the story of a small citizen couple struggling to survive in the context of Unemployment in Japan. However, this social criticism film, under the guidance of Ozu, adds the color of a family drama. In addition to the reproduction of real life and Ozu's characteristic humor gimmick in this film, the warmth that people feel the most is the warmth that is also faint in the tragedy.

This is where Yasujiro Ozu's wisdom lies, revealing criticism in tearful laughter and containing hope in warm affection. Follow the imprint of light and shadow back to the era of filming, let us all know the unique charm of this old movie.

Criticize social reality through family dramas

In the 1930s, as the economic crisis in the capitalist countries was spreading around the world, Japan's economy was also implicated. The Great Crisis led to a sharp decline in Japan's industrial production, the collapse of enterprises, and a surge in unemployment. Japan's gross industrial production in 1932 fell by 34.7 percent compared to 1929. At the same time, Western pop culture is gradually infiltrating into Japan, and the Japanese people have become enthusiastic about Western clothing and department stores, and movies have also become a part of urban life. The traditional way of life and way of thinking of the Japanese people are constantly being challenged and undergoing drastic changes. While enjoying the convenience that modernization has brought them, they also show a sense of loss.

As a result, in Japan at that time, the pressure of unemployment and the confusion of reality also plagued people, and Ozu Yasujiro chose to use the language of film to record and expose such social reality, which was filmed in 1931 in the film "Chorus of Tokyo".

There are no grand scenes, no empty themes, no deliberate ugliness or distortion of reality... Unlike some films that deliberately pursue critical effects and are seriously divorced from reality, in shooting such a social criticism film, Ozu Yasujiro still chooses to focus on a family. The protagonist, Okajima, is the head of the family and has a virtuous wife and three children. Ozu uses delicate brushstrokes to show us in the film the hardships of Okajima's life after losing his job as a small clerk, which is a true portrayal of the family life of countless unemployed small citizens in Japan at that time.

"Tokyo Chorus" reflects on society from the perspective of the embarrassing life of an ordinary family, and the choice of small and large themes is the first unique feature of this film. Yasujiro Ozu sensitively saw the hardships of the survival of the Japanese middle class during the economic depression, and summarized his life as the experience of the Okajima family, which not only resonated with a considerable number of people, but also successfully realized the criticism of the social reality at that time.

First of all, the film portrays the sadness of ordinary intellectuals in Japan as small clerks. The protagonist, Okajima, graduated from university, worked for an insurance company, and lived a relatively happy life. Yet in those depressed years, the fear of unemployment hung over everyone. As a powerless and powerless clerk, they can only be careful in the company and do their duty, obeying the words of their superiors, so that they can keep their jobs. But Okajima is an upright and enthusiastic person, who fights for his colleagues in the company and does not hesitate to quarrel with the boss, but eventually ends up being dismissed by the boss. Okajima returned home after losing his job and said something to his wife: "I had a fight with my boss, and I was right, but he really fired me." A sentence expressed the helplessness and sadness of the small staff who was bullied by the boss.

In contrast to Okashima, there is the performance of a clerk next to the boss, who has a flattering face, observes the situation when Okashima argues with the boss, and only knows how to obey the boss. This is the social reality, the righteous Okajima is fired by the boss, the flattering staff is instead given the boss's weight, and the film truly reproduces the different fates of the two characters in the workplace. This makes the relationship between people more and more indifferent, and ordinary small employees are also under great work pressure because they are afraid of unemployment.

Second, the film focuses on the hardships faced by the Okajima family after losing their jobs. Although he lost his job, Okajima, as the head of the family, still has the responsibility of raising two children and taking care of the whole family. However, for children, the anxiety and helplessness of adults after unemployment are beyond their ability to understand. They don't understand why Dad came home depressed, and they don't know what kind of unknown life they will face in the future.

As a result, the son will cry loudly because his father did not buy himself a bicycle, and the unsuccessful Okajima must be full of helplessness and bitterness when he beats his son. Immediately after his daughter fell ill and was hospitalized, Okashima had to sell his wife's kimono before paying for medical expenses in exchange for his daughter's health. The life of the Okajima family was a microcosm of the lives of tens of millions of unemployed families at that time. Many families also face difficulties of one kind or another after losing their jobs, and most of them are like the Okajima family, the whole family takes care of each other and supports each other, and they are trying to live.

Third, through Okajima's experience of finding a job, the film also truly reflects the difficulty of re-employment in the era of economic depression.

Fixed camera position is a major feature of the films directed by Yasujiro Ozu, who prefers to shoot left-right symmetrical compositions, and does not allow the camera to shift and pan to destroy the beauty of this shape. Even if there is a lateral shift, it is necessary to adhere to the principle that the composition of the picture does not change from beginning to end. In this film, however, there is a nine-second traverse shot that Ozu uses to shoot the backs of a group of unemployed people. The loneliness of the unemployed sitting on the side of the road waiting for a new job, the helplessness of the factory chimney in the distance, and the helpless details of the helplessness they pull out a pack of cigarette butts they pick up and smoke are all presented in the film. Against the backdrop of massive layoffs in major factories and companies at the time, Japan's unemployment rate soared, making it naturally more difficult to find a job. Ozu uses the film to show the real state of the unemployed on the streets of Japan.

On the way, Okajima also met his former colleague, also to survive, a small clerk who used to sit in an office with a decent job, and after losing his job, he had to abandon his self-esteem and face and start handing out leaflets on the street. "I never thought I would do anything like this." After the colleague recognized Okajima, he was embarrassed to say so. However, Okajima's answer speaks to the hearts of all the unemployed: "You are lucky, at least you have a job." "Colleagues' experiences foreshadow what kind of jobs Okajima is about to face in the future, but for unemployed people, no matter how much hardship or even humiliation they have to endure, finding a job is still the biggest desire in their hearts."

The helplessness of unemployment, the embarrassment of life, the hardship of job search... It is this life-like detail that connects the entire film. Through these simple but realistic plot narratives, the film "Tokyo Chorus" exposes and criticizes the social reality that brings misfortune to the people, and the image of Okajima, a small citizen who is still struggling tenaciously after losing his job, also jumps to the screen.

Warm hope with strong family affection

Yasujiro Ozu, who is good at making films that embody the affection between husband and wife, parents and children, is also known as the master of Japanese national cinema. From the first work "The Blade of Confession" to show brotherly affection, to the third work "Wife Missing" to show the love of husband and wife, and then to the 1949 "Late Spring" to reflect the love of father and daughter and create the theme of "marrying a daughter", Ozu tells us a family story in his unique way, beautiful and innocent. Under the strong family affection throughout, no matter what kind of difficulties or contradictions there are, everything can always be faced with indifferent feelings. Similarly, in the film "Tokyo Chorus", a faint warmth also makes this tragedy contain warmth and hope.

Although he lost his job, Okajima did not lose everything, and he still has a harmonious family. The relationship between parents and children, the most common character relationship in Ozu Yasujiro's films, also appears in this film. Financial difficulties but satisfied the son's desire to buy a bicycle, this is the father's love for his son; selling his kimono to treat his daughter's illness, this is the mother's love for her daughter... These plots all reflect the most affectionate love of the Okajima couple for their children, and it is precisely because of the warmth of this love that the embarrassment and hardship of the Okajima family's life after unemployment are diluted. Therefore, we can often feel the warmth and happiness of this family in the film. After their daughter was discharged from the hospital, the Okajima family of four sat around and played a game of clapping hands, everyone had a happy smile on their faces, Okashima and his wife laughed with love, a pair of children laughed innocently, this is their happiness from the bottom of their hearts.

And, of course, there's the deep love between husband and wife. Looking for a job, Okajima, who was running into a wall everywhere, pulled down his son and went to Omura-sensei's restaurant to help while waiting for an opportunity. When he carried a large banner and followed the teacher through the streets to advertise, he happened to be bumped into by his wife and children who were out. After learning all this, the considerate wife did not complain in the slightest, but offered to go to the restaurant to help and share it with her husband. In order to support this family, the wife understands what kind of efforts and sacrifices Okajima has made, and stands up to bear it with her husband in the most difficult time, which is the greatest encouragement to him and the deepest love that a wife can give to her husband. The hardships and hardships of the difficult times reflect the deep feelings between Okajima and his wife, and it is the understanding and companionship of his wife that makes Okashima regain the courage to continue to struggle.

Mr. Omura's enthusiastic introduction to Okashima also reflects the preciousness of the friendship between teachers and students. At the end of the film, Okajima has dinner with his classmates at Mr. Omura's restaurant. The words and laughter between the former classmates and the singing are also a beautiful remembrance of the friendship of the student era. It was at this student meeting that the teacher received a letter from a friend who said that Okajima had been offered a position as a professor of English at Tochigi Prefectural Girls' High School. The help of the teacher finally lifted Okashima out of the crisis of unemployment, and although the new job required the Okajima family to leave Tokyo, his wife's words foreshadowed hope, and she firmly said: "I am sure that one day, we will return to Tokyo." ”

This is the warm and happy family of Okajima, the whole family calmly faces the difficulties caused by unemployment on life, and with the help of well-wishers such as Omura-sensei, they support each other and bravely go on. The whole movie is diluted by the warmth of love, making people believe that under the warmth of family affection, any difficulties will dissipate, and life is always full of hope.

Create a joyful tragedy with Ozu-style gimmicks

The early study of American cinema led to the influence of some comedians such as Chaplin, and he himself shot a series of comedies and university films in the 1920s and 1930s, and "Tokyo Chorus" is the masterpiece of the films that Ozu directed during this period.

Chaplin was a master of critical realist cinema, and he critiqued the social reality of capitalism through comedy performances and satire, elevating vulgar comedy to the artistic height of critical realism. Yasujiro Ozu's films in his comedic era are also known for their humorous gimmicks and pungent satire. "Chorus of Tokyo" was described by Sato Tadanan as a "joyful tragedy" due to the inclusion of the social reality of unemployment in Japan in the performance of comedy.

This is another charm of the film "Chorus of Tokyo". The exposure and criticism of social reality introduced above is not presented in the film in a heavy tone, but interspersed with a somewhat light-hearted comedy plot, that is, using Ozu-style humor gimmicks to tell the profound topic of unemployment, creating a joyful tragedy.

For example, in the film, the plot of the protagonist Okajima's theory of arguing with his colleagues and the boss is expressed in a comedic artistic way. The flattering staff wanted to stop Okajima, but was pushed away by Okajima and embarrassed to drop his heels; Okashima quarreled with the boss and patted each other on the table to create a momentum for himself; the boss borrowed a fan to shoot the table louder, but Okashima took the fan without giving the boss a chance... Originally a tense scene of staff and boss theory, it was treated comically into a hilarious scene of two people competing for who slapped the table louder. In the end, the boss took a carefully wrapped fan from the drawer and slapped the table hard to win the farce, and Okajima was dismissed.

There are also details of Okajima's promotion of Omura-sensei's small shop anti-stripe. At this time, Okajima's performance is very funny, a simple short-sleeved long pants outfit replaces the usual suit and leather shoes, carrying a stripe on the shoulder but to follow the pace of the teacher's password, feeling embarrassed to hang his head all the way to be pointed out by the teacher, but also from time to time to rush over to see the children who are making trouble. How can Okajima, who was originally a clerk, get used to the publicity that appears on the street, these seemingly funny behaviors are actually Okajima's helpless self-deprecation to hide his inner embarrassment.

There are many similar comedy plots in the movie "Tokyo Chorus", and the gimmicks designed by Yasujiro Ozu are all images of life, and the audience will laugh heartily when they see these funny plots. However, more of these laughs are sympathetic laughter for the protagonist Okajima, laughter with tears in their eyes. As Tadanan Sato put it, that happiness, "at first it was real happiness, but gradually it made people feel that it was to overcome the bitterness of life, to cheer themselves on." "We can't look at 'Tokyo Chorus' as a pure comedy film, and what Ozu achieves through humorous gimmicks is a satire on social reality. After the laughter, the audience will feel the bitterness and bitterness of the tears, and will feel the hardships of the unemployed people represented by Okashima.

In 1931, a local Japanese film magazine launched the top ten film selection, "Tokyo Chorus" ranked third, accurate reproduction and criticism of real life made the film widely acclaimed. At the same time, Ozu Yasujiro also made some films with similar themes, such as "When I Was Young" (1929) and "Although I Finished College" (1929), etc., to reflect the hardships of college students and ordinary citizens during the economic depression, but "Tokyo Chorus" is a collection of comedy humor gimmicks to satirize reality. What is even more rare is that Ozu still tells the heavy topic of unemployment in a warm tone, making people believe that all difficulties can always be resolved calmly. Immersed in the life of the Okajima family, feeling the warmth under the love, and the criticism behind the laughter, these finally made the classic of the movie "Tokyo Chorus".