Eclipse Series 10: SILENT OZU -- THREE FAMILY COMEDIES: OZU, Yasujiro: I Was Born, But . . . (1932)

OZU, Yasujiro (Japan)
I Was Born, But . . . [1932]
Eclipse Series 10
DVD

One of Ozu's most popular films, I Was Born, But . . . is a blithe portrait of the financial and psychological toils of one family, as told from the rascally point of view of a couple of stubborn little boys. For these two brothers, the daily grind of bullies and mean teachers is nothing next to the mortification they feel when they come to understand their good-natured father's low-rung social status. Reworked by Ozu decades later as the Technicolor comedy Good Morning, this poignant evocation of childhood tumult is also a showcase for Ozu's expert comic timing.

90 minutes

Black & White

Silent

Japanese Intertitles

1:33:1 aspect ratio

Criterion Release 2008

Director/Writers

Yasujiro Ozu was 29 when he directed I Was Born, But . . .

Original story by James Maki (Ozu alias)

Screenplay by Akira Fushimi

Screen adaptation by Geibei Ibushiya

Other Ozu films in the Collection:

Eclipse Series 42: Walk Cheerfully (1930)
Eclipse Series 42: That Night's Wife (1930)
Eclipse Series 10: Tokyo Chorus (1931)
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

Arguably, one of Ozu’s best films from any period — certainly, his greatest silent.

• A more thorough translation of the title might be something like, “I was born, but … why do I have to go through all this hardship?”
• Shot between November 1931 and April 1932, but interrupted by the shooting of Spring Comes For the Ladies (1932). This partially accounts for the way the film turns dark towards the end — Ozu’s attitude had changed.
• Ozu: “I started to make a film about children and ended up with a film about grown-ups; while I had originally planned to make a fairly bright little story, it changed while I was working on it, and came out very dark. The company hadn’t thought it would turn out this way. They were so unsure of it that they delayed its release for two months.” [Richie, p. 215]
• The film went on to win the Kinema Jumpo First Prize for that year.
• Another terrific score by Sosin.
• The Shochioku title card resembles the one in Tokyo Chorus (1931) — a bas-relief of a tall figure with a staff next to a lion with 1932 across its body.
• The background for the credit cards is hilarious: a man is standing at the base of three leaves extending from a stalk. He has on funny round glasses and is naked, covering himself with his left hand.
• The first card reads: “A Picture Book for Grown-Ups.”
• Original story by “James Maki.” This was a name they made up for Ozu.
• In September of 1931, five of Shochiku’s biggest stars left to form their own company (including the soon-to-die Tokihiko Okado). Luckily, Ozu was able to retain Tatsuo Saitô (Yoshii), who is given the role of a lifetime here — and he certainly delivers.
• Likewise, the kids — Ryoichi (Hideo Sugawara) and Keiji (Tomio Aoki) — who carry the film, are terrific!
• Aoki was eight when he made this film, his 14th IMDb entry. He died in 2004, age 80. Sugawara was also eight and died in 2005, age 81.

The script — with surprisingly few title cards considering the amount of activity on the screen — is as tight as can be. Note the character introductions, done casually but with careful intent:

• ECU on car tire stuck, spinning in the mud.
• Truck driver, looking back.
• Yoshii walks into frame. CU on him.
• Spinning tire; back to Dad who is glancing up at something.
• His two boys, standing in the back of the truck looking down.
• Dad, tire and two-shot of Dad & truck driver who says something to Dad.
• With no title cards, Ozu makes it simple to follow the progression — Dad looks at the kids and says something; the kids get out and prepare to push from the back of the truck.
• Ozu finally fills the frame with the truck, which we see is loaded with a family’s possessions — trunks, suitcases and a doghouse.
• Dad is vigorously turning the front crank; the kids have moved away and are talking.
• Excellent ECU of tires spinning, truck rocking, getting out of the mud.
• Ozu holds on the muddy path of road after the truck leaves the frame. We see only the legs of the kids as they walk by.
• Cut / two-shot of the kids.
• The first intertitle:
• “You go on ahead. Tell your mother I went to see Mr. Iwasaki.”
• The kids get back in the truck and Dad exits frame — as Ozu holds on the long narrow road, engirded by telephone poles.

It’s all very subtle, but it’s made clear that the father — although he seems stern in his interactions with the kids at first (after all, they’re in a tense situation) — is in fact very gentle and loving with them. Conversely, we can see in the eyes of Ryoichi a kind of questioning of father’s behavior and decision-making. As I say, very subtle and observable only on repeat viewings.

• We cut to we don’t know where — But Ozu has packed the foreground with all sorts of objects.
• The truck pulls up in the background and we see Ryoichi jump out of the passenger side seat and Keiji from the back. Ryoichi moves towards the camera.
• Gradually, Ozu puts it all together. The boys are talking to two young men who are putting away books. They are asking for their mother (Mitsuko Yoshikawa); they go off with her while Ozu remains with the two young men. Two title cards fill us in. One man says to the other:
• “Mr. Yoshii stopped in to pay his respects to the boss.”
• “That’s why he’s a manager, you could learn from him.”
• (i.e. the men work for Yoshii, who is visiting his boss, Iwasaki (Takeshi Sakamoto, the old man in Tokyo Chorus).

A delivery boy, Kozou (Shôichi Kofujita), comes by and asks Keiji to “call somebody.”

• Keiji glances back into the house and then turns back to Kozou and makes a ridiculous face.
• Kozou raises his right arm and makes a fist.
• Staying on him, we see him unclench, takes off his hat, and bows.
• Reverse cut and Mom is standing at the door with Keiji.

Ozu’s use of humor is subtle.

• Keiji and Kozou seem to be developing a tentative friendship.
• Cut / a large, imposing house. Dad is bowing to Mrs. Iwasaki (Teruyo Hayami) and her young son, Taro (Seiichi Katô), as Iwasaki saunters into the scene, pointing towards Taro as he exits scene.
• Yoshii: “All young boys should have a little mischief in them.” (Beautifully ironic on repeat viewings.)

The gang bullies little Keiji, taking away both the bun in his mouth and a ring toy that Kozou had given him.

• Note the little kid with the sign. After he tries to take a bite from the bun, the kid next to him — perhaps his older brother — snatches it away. Ozu then gives us a CU on the sign which is not translated with a title cared, but with a modern subtitle:
• “Upset tummy. Please don’t feed him anything.”

We get a CU of the little ring toy, as its new owner (the bully) tries to figure it out. Cut / Keiji arrives home, crying. Ryoichi is playing with his own little toy.

• The boys return to the gang and Ryoichi confronts the bully. The fight is interrupted when Dad walks by. He tells the boys they need to “get along” with the local kids.
• Note the beautiful transition which separates the scenes: a lone telephone pole which comes into view as the camera tracks the three characters. As soon as they exit the frame / cut / the pillow shot: the top of the pole, with bits of frayed cloth attached to the wires, whipped by the wind.
• Cut / POV from behind a fence, watching Dad exercise his arms (while smoking a cigarette). Dad is perfectly framed between two pieces of laundry hanging on the line (an Ozu motif).
• Observe the breakfast scene, a microcosmic look at the essence of Ozu. Everything is played out in an extremely naturalistic turn (watch Sugawara, in particular). Dad is getting ready for work, the kids are eating — it is nothing but a slice of morning life in which nothing happens.
• The kids, facing a potential beating if they to school, play hooky and eat their lunch early (notice how the kids are always putting their bento box on their heads!)
• A very clever transition: the kids are at school — marching, bored / cut / a rightward pan (rare for Ozu, even then) on office workers, all yawning (i.e., bored kids marching leading to a future of yawning!).
• The brothers share a cigarette butt.
• Kozou runs into the boys and forges a teacher’s “E” (for “excellent”) on Keiji’s calligraphy homework. The subtitle infers that he wrote the letter backwards!
• The gang calls out the brothers, who successfully defeat Taro and another boy. The bully is conspicuously absent from this fight.
• 0:36:56: Dad, who has found out about the bullying, walks the kids to school and pauses to make sure they actually go. At one point, the kids stop and turn around to see if their father is still watching (he is) and Sosin puts in this little cue that sounds exactly like someone saying “UH-OH!” Very clever.
• Taro confronts Keiji; this time the bully is present. Keiji loses but Kozou intervenes and sends the bully home, crying.
• The brothers now point to Taro and ask Kozou to “tell him off too.”
• They learn a very adult lesson when Kozou declines, saying that the boss is a much better customer than their dad.
• The brothers now “control” the rest of the gang. Giving specific hand signals, any other boy must lie down on the ground at the leader’s command. Taro did this and now the brothers do it, too.
• Ozu completely gives over this part of the film to the childrens’ POV, as they compare the complicated hierarchy of both their own world and that of the adults.
• The bully’s father calls back Ryoichi’s earlier line: “who made my kid cry?” The kids run away. This father is obviously a lot like his son.
• The next kid demonstrates teeth removal by offering his dad a piece of caramel. The kids shake their heads in wonderment and scurry off again.
• They meet up with Iwasaki and Dad and taro finally settles the argument once and for all, speaking to the brothers:
• “That’s my dad’s car. So my dad’s more important than yours.”
• The brothers test their leadership by ordering Taro to the ground. He does so, reluctantly, but Dad sees this and bows to Taro in apology as he dusts himself off. He looks at his sons, sternly.
• Dad starts to leave as the brothers repeat their command to Taro. Again, Dad notices and takes his sons away with him.
• Note the fermata, the pause — such an important pacing tool for Ozu — as he keeps the camera back as Dad and the boys walk further down the road.
• The famous home-movie scene follows. Ozu takes his time setting everything up.
• The boys — in their Sunday finest — have to pay Taro a sparrow’s egg as the price of admission; the adults are gathered around to watch the film.
• The first reel. Ozu’s fondness for scatological humor is on full display:
• The zoo. A large male lion.
• “It’s like the lion on the toothpaste tube.”
• “Which end does the toothpaste come out of?”
• Keiji answers: “The tail end.”
• Next, a zebra. Taro asks:
• “Are they black stripes on white or the other way around?”
• The second reel. Iwasaki is crossing the street to meet what looks like two young geishas. Offscreen, Mrs. Iwasaki is shooting daggers at her husband, while he desperately tries to save face by running the reel at fast forward speed (Sosin provides an appropriate cue).
• Before the start of the third reel, Dad light’s his boss’s cigarette with appropriate deference. As the reel begins, it appears that the employees are all doing calisthenics on the rooftop of their workplace (it is still fairly common for Japanese employees to exercise with their colleagues at work).
• The brothers are thrilled to see their dad on the screen.
• Yoshii begins making funny faces for the camera. Without intertitles, Ozu toggles between Dad looking ridiculous on the screen with a two-shot of the brothers watching this. We see them becoming more and more disgusted, disappointed, and disillusioned.
• Meanwhile, all the adults are laughing, although Dad seems a little embarrassed.
• A strong parallel in the 1959 “remake” (Ohayô [“Good Morning”]) — both sets of brothers must come to terms with the apparent hypocrisy of Dad’s behavior.
• Here — after watching their father kowtow to the boss, looking ridiculous, they demand that he should be the boss instead of Taro’s father. They don’t understand.
• In Ohayô, the kids are bewildered at the way adults use phrases like “good morning” and “have a nice day” instead of saying what they really mean.
• They go on a short hunger strike, which leads Dad to attempt to explain the nature of things to them. Do they understand?

In the final scene, we see Taro lying down on the ground at the brothers’ signal, but when he gets up, the three friends march off to school arm in arm. The bully appears with the ring toy, still unable to figure it out. Ryoichi quickly demonstrates how to do it, but the bully still can’t duplicate the trick.

• The scene ends on a wide shot — the early morning rush, kids running to school, a tram whizzing by in the background …

Film Rating (0-100):

95

By Director
By Spine #