Eclipse Series 10: SILENT OZU -- THREE FAMILY COMEDIES: OZU, Yasujiro: Tokyo Chorus (1931)

OZU, Yasujiro (Japan)
Tokyo Chorus [1931]
Eclipse Series 10
DVD

Combining three prevalent genres of the day — the student comedy, the salaryman film, and the domestic drama — Ozu created the warmhearted Tokyo Chorus, and demonstrated that he was truly coming into his own as a cinema craftsman. The setup is simple: low wage-earning dad Okajima is counting on his bonus to make ends meet, and so are his wife and children. But payday doesn't go exactly as planned. Exquisite and economical, Ozu's film alternates between delicate comic sequences and heartrending social reality.

90 minutes

Black & White

Silent

Japanese Intertitles

1:33:1 aspect ratio

Criterion Release 2008

Director/Writers

Yasujiro Ozu was 28 when he directed Tokyo Chorus.

Original story by Komatsu Kitamura and Kôgo Noda.

Screenplay by Noda.

Other Ozu films in the Collection:

Eclipse Series 42: Walk Cheerfully (1930)
Eclipse Series 42: That Night's Wife (1930)
Eclipse Series 10: I Was Born, But . . . (1932)
Eclipse Series 42: Dragnet Girl (1933)
Eclipse Series 10: Passing Fancy (1933)
#232: A Story Of Floating Weeds (1934)
#525: The Only Son (1936)
#526: There Was A Father (1942)
#331: Late Spring (1949)
#240: Early Summer (1951)
#989: The Flavor Of Green Tea Over Rice (1952)
#217: Tokyo Story (1953)
Eclipse Series 3:Early Spring (1956)
Eclipse Series 3: Tokyo Twilight (1957)
Eclipse Series 3: Equinox Flower (1958)
#84: Good Morning (1959)
#232: Floating Weeds (1959)
Eclipse Series 3: Late Autumn (1960)
Eclipse Series 3: End Of Summer (1961)
#446: An Autumn Afternoon (1962)

The Film

• This excellent Eclipse release features a dazzling, period-correct optional solo piano soundtrack score by Donald Sosin. The music enhances Ozu’s film throughout every scene and makes watching it a much deeper and richer experience. Be sure to click the “Activate Score” icon.
• The opening Shochiku logo is strange indeed. A stylized cityscape is bestraddled by a giant nude man in bas-relief, with the year (1931) superimposed.
• Gags aplenty as Omura — a drill instructor/teacher (Tatsuo Saitô) — deals with several dozen unruly students, including Shinji Okajima (Tokihiko Okada) [Okada died three years later from tuberculosis.]
• One of these gags involves Omura’s habit of licking his pencil as he prepares to write down something (probably negative) in his little notebook. After doing this many times, he begins chewing out Okajima, who helpfully takes the pencil from him, licks it, and hands it back to him, smiling.
• (This little “licking” motif will reappear in a future echo, qv.)
• A student arrives late. Much humor flows from this — and this is also another poignant future echo, qv.
• At 7:01, Sosin times his score so that a new march exactly matches the boys being marched out of the courtyard.
• We can observe Ozu’s habit of using a certain type of pillow shot to effect transitions begin to develop here: after Okajima unsuccessfully tries to light a cigarette, he looks up / cut / a lovely shot of a large gate surrounded by trees, rustling in the wind.
• Cut / title card: “Several years later … he’s working for an insurance company.”

Never in any kind of a rush, Ozu takes his time getting Okajima to the office. As he gets dressed, his son (Hideo Sugawara) and daughter (Hideko Takamine) are running around the house playing with a beach ball-shaped paper balloon. The son begs dad for a bicycle — all his friends have one (and a few cuts later we see them zooming by on the road outside) … now, a few words about these kids:

• Ozu used Sugawara in both of the other films in this box set … he gave up acting when he was twelve.
• Conversely, Takamine (who plays the younger sister here, even though she was the same age as Sugawara [seven]) went on to have a long and distinguished career, and is generally considered one of the grande dames of Japanese actresses, although she would work with Ozu only one more time, in 1950’s The Munekata Sisters.
• Ozu was a wonderful director of children. He somehow coaxed the same naturalistic acting that he demanded from the adults.
• Throughout this picture, Ozu is more and more frequently placing the camera just a few inches off the floor — at 12:54 we see an amazing example of this stylistic development:
• The husband is finally ready to go to work. He is walking towards the door and the wife (Emiko Yagumo) is rising from her position in the other room, moving towards him to say goodbye …
• Naturally, since they are standing, the camera only shows them from feet to mid-body — a strange sight, as she brushes him off and he departs as she follows …
• The shot holds on the “mosquito-net” tent that covers the baby and then …
• … the kids enter the shot, framed perfectly!

A long, sweeping pan introduces us to the office. Okajima, after sticking up for an older man who is fired is himself fired (after a hilarious “fan-duel” with the boss). Also noteworthy during this office scene is:

• A salaryman’s worst nightmare: his bonus falls into the urinal.
• Another employee peeks through the keyhole at the unfortunate man who is staring at the piss-soaked bills, trying to decide what to do.
• Later, several cuts show him using a blotter to dry the bills out.
• At 25:26, Ozu repeats the keyhole shot, as the gang peeks into the boss’s office to watch.
• Significantly, Okajima remains cheerful after he is fired.

The son has stopped his bicycle friends like a traffic cop. He pulls a pretty neat trick: he is eating a slice of watermelon and gets one of the kids to dismount his bike so that he can sit on it while its owner takes a bite of his watermelon. The kid catches on and — carefully wiping off the handlebars — resumes sitting on his bike while the Okajima kid grabs back his watermelon. Very cute scene.

• “My dad’s buying me a better one!” he yells to the departing crowd of kids.
• In the next scene, he meets Dad on the road, who has only a ridiculous little scooter for him, which he continually tries to promote as “just as good.” Tantrum #1 follows.
• Dad gets home, son following Tantrum #2 begins with the kid punching out a few panes of rice paper and continues with his jumping onto the floor with a loud thump.
• #3 is full-blown rage. The kid gets a licking.

By this time, Mom is consoling her son. He cries, “he didn’t buy the bicycle he promised me.”

Ozu demands a lot of facial acting from Yagumo here; first, she gives her husband a little look, and — bending down to his level — tries to calm and console her aggrieved son, as she says:

“Daddy was wrong. Now be a good boy and stop crying.”

Dad: “What did I do wrong?”

“You shouldn’t lie to children.”

Following this exchange, he finally shows her his discharge papers — he’s been fired. As she recovers from this shock, she again tries to get son to play with the scooter. Dad’s still undressing; he looks tired from the exertion of the spanking.

“Poor kid. Let’s buy him a bicycle.” The scene concludes with the kids playing with a paper airplane they’ve made out of Dad’s termination papers.

“Tokyo — City of the Unemployed.” Okajima bumps into the other man who was fired. He is handing out fliers for “Insurance Week” with a sandwich board draped over his frail body. They sit and talk.

• Wonderful pillow shot of some fountains to establish location.
• A strange bit as the two men commiserate — suddenly people are running; a man says a bear has broken out of its cage. The older man points as if to indicate that maybe they should run. Okajima:
• “A bear getting out isn’t going to change our lives.”
• The old man sits down again. People are now walking calmly in the background, children playing on the swings — it must have been a false alarm.

Dad and son meet on the road again. The kid has his new bike. He tells Dad that his sister is sick from eating some bad cake. Dad blames Mom; Sis has to be hospitalized …

• Lovely pillow shot — a stalk of sunflowers, blooming in front of some transmission wires.
• In the hospital, son inspects the ice-bag which rests on sister’s forehead — he picks it up and licks it [echo].
• Lovely scene as Dad and son prepare to go home with Mom and sis to follow. Son — after giving Dad all his pocket possessions — hops on Dad’s back for a piggyback ride home.
• Another beautiful moment for Yagumo — watch her expressions as she returns to her daughter and then realizes that she needs to say goodbye to her husband and son at the window. Simple reality.

Daughter recovered, the family returns home.

• At least in this neighborhood of 1931 Tokyo, people locked their doors. Okajima opens a lock to get into the house.
• They are happy to be home. Dad seems ecstatic.
• 53:42. A justifiably famous “early” Ozu scene: Dad is on the floor with the kids. Mom is in the other room with the baby. They exchange looks, and Dad and the kids start to play a game which looks similar to pattycake. Mom discovers her kimonos are gone (Dad sold them to pay for the hospital bill).
• “Miyoko is back with us thanks to your kimonos.”
• This line is like a cue for son to run to Mom and bring her over to join in on the game.

This is a good time to give it up for Donald Richie’s brilliant book on Ozu. Laid out in separate chapters on Script, Shooting and Editing, the following shows how Ozu’s brilliant filmmaking comes to be:

• SCRIPT: In this instance, there are no title cards, although the adults seem to be speaking to each other occasionally. What they say could not have been important. What the script probably said was something like this:
• The family sits in a circle playing the game. The children are oblivious to any emotions other than fun and happiness, but the adults exchange stealthy glances of sadness and confusion as they become aware and profoundly affected, experiencing the reality and beauty of life. Mono no aware.
• SHOOTING: There are just four camera positions: 1) a medium-shot of the four from behind and slightly to the left of son, and then (left to right) daughter, Mom and Dad; 2) a CU of the kids; 3) MCU of Dad w/son on lower left; and 4) MCU of Mom w/daughter on lower left.
• The scene plays with the emotional responses of Mom and Dad in positions #3 and #4.
• EDITING: There are 22 cuts in 1:48. Note the length of each cut and how it creates an overall rhythmic flow to the film. SU# indicates the four different camera setups; [#] is the length of the cut in seconds:
• Cut 1/SU#1 [11]: As son and Mom walk back to complete the circle, son sits directly in front and slightly to the left of the camera, with Sis, Mom and Dad completing the circle, left to right. They join hands and begin to sing and play. Neutral faces.
• Cut 2/SU#2 [5]: A close two-shot of the kids smiling and happy.
• Cut 3/SU#3 [3] MCU on Dad w/son on lower left. Dad’s putting on a happy face.
• Cut 4/SU#4 [4] MCU on Mom w/daughter on lower left. Also trying to put on a happy face. She looks up at her husband.
• Cut 5/SU#3 [3] Dad hesitates for a moment, looks at Mom.
• Cut 6/SU#4 [5] Mom, concerned.
• Cut 7/SU#3 [5] Dad, stiff.
• Cut 8/SU#4 [3] Mom, sad; her lips quiver for a moment.
• Cut 9/SU#3 [2] Dad, clapping mechanically.
• Cut 10/SU#4 [5] Mom, slowly bowing her head, but still clapping.
• Cut 11/SU#3 [5] Dad, choking back emotion.
• Cut 12/SU#4 [3] Mom, swallowing hard.
• Cut 13/SU#3 [3] Dad, steely-eyed, staring at his wife.
• Cut 14/SU#4 [4] Mom, missing several claps to wipe away tears.
• Cut 15/SU#3 [6] Dad, also missing some claps, holding it all in. At the end of the cut, he is looking at his children.
• Cut 16/SU#2 [4] The kids, absorbed in the game and feeling happy.
• Cut 17/SU#3 [4] Dad, humble, thankful, on the verge of tears.
• Cut 18/SU#4 [3] Mom, slowly looking up.
• Cut 19/SU#3 [8] Dad; Ozu takes time to let his smile spread over his face — a relatively long cut — and he is speaking with great emotion.
• Cut 20/SU#4 [4] Mom, now also happy.
• Cut 21/SU#2 [7] The beautiful children — still happy, playful, in tune with the rhythm, but perhaps with a glint of wonder and curiosity about their parents’ emotions.
• Cut 22/SU#1 [10] Long cut which fades out as the family plays together at peace.
• SU#2 is used only three times — cuts #2, 16 and 21. Note the powerful effect of those three cuts!

Filmic poetry.

Immediately following is a dose of reality as Okajima is job hunting. His dropped cigarette butt is immediately picked up as found treasure by a needy man outside the Employment Office. [Kurosawa would make an entire film based on a similar incident: One Wonderful Sunday (1947).]

He runs into Omura, who offers him a job at his restaurant. He carries a sandwich board, passing out leaflets in an echo of a previous scene with the old man. His wife and kids see him while traveling back home on the streetcar. She is mortified and ashamed. He is calm and patient and willing to do whatever it takes.

• Note that not until he tells her that the man was his former teacher and that he is trying to help him get a real job does she feel more positive.
• “Are you sure he will?” she asks, searching for certainty.
• He takes off his shirt rather savagely and looks at her coldly for a moment. But then his glance softens and he says, “a drowning man will clutch at straws.”
• As he undresses, his gaze leads him to some laundry hanging outside on a clothesline. This pillow shot/image will become a regular feature in many future Ozu films.
• He mentions that he feels like he is getting older. She looks at him and then follows his gaze out to the laundry. Suddenly, they are both more cheerful. She offers to go with him to the restaurant the next day. She hangs up his clothes and readies his kimono and obi.
• Title card: “Four or Five Days Later.” We see many plates of rice and eventually Mom, who is preparing the bowls. Then Mr. and Mrs. Omura, ladling the curry sauce on to the rice.
• Okajima enters the kitchen. “We’re ready. Come join us.”

Ozu’s famous elisions. He has told us that “four or five days” have passed, but we’re still surprised to see a large group of men who we deduce are all students from the old days.

• We grasp the extent of the poverty of the time when Omura looks at the menu on the wall stating the price for the rice curry — 15 sen. We watch him as he mentally adds up the total for the group and then regrettably informs them that he’ll have to charge everybody. (Nobody seems to mind, but the point is made that every yen was precious.)

A telegram arrives; Omura has in fact got Okajima a job teaching English at a girl’s school some distance from Tokyo. The group toasts the good news and everyone joins in on a song.

Both Okajima and Omura are overcome with emotion as the group sings of the good old days and Ozu fades to black on this high note of hope, friendship and family.

Film Rating (0-100):

93

By Director
By Spine #