Thursday, April 4, 2019
Sushi and Baseball
Early Summer depicts a Japan in transition. Defeated and occupied by the Americans, the Japanese both cling to their traditional ways and embrace new ideas from their occupiers. How does the movie show this transition? Does this movie make a judgment about the new American influence? Is there a political slant, however subtle, in this film? What does this movie think about baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie?
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Post-war, Americanized Japan manifests in “Early Summer” in a most positive and eager manner. The film does not juxtapose Japanese and American cultures, but instead depicts the two as homogenized. One example of this would be the two young boys wearing baseball caps throughout the majority of the film. Their baseball caps are notable because here are two Japanese youths sporting something so American – pertaining to something even more American, baseball – within the confines of their traditional Japanese home. Another instance of American culture evident in “Early Summer” is when protagonist Noriko utters a phrase in English while wearing a kimono. The film’s nonchalance in representing the two cultures almost as one suggests Japan’s indifference to being Americanized; therefore, “Early Summer” is in consonance with post-war American ideals, including her desire to impose her self-proclaimed greatness on foreign, particularly non-western, nations. “Early Summer,” a film that commends America’s post-war occupation of Japan, loves baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and if it were a modern film, NASCAR.
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ReplyDeleteThroughout the film. I think that Ozu is making the point that ignoring tradition and including some aspects from Western Culture is something to be embraced. There are references to Western culture littered throughout the food, to the apparel, to references about American housewives. One example of the fight between tradition and Western influence is during the scene of the family picture and the boys are wearing their baseball caps, but their grandmother thinks that they should take them off. In the end, they decide to keep them on, defying the traditional view of their grandmother and physically embracing the newer influences of the Americans. Noriko’s whole character is one big example of a break in tradition, but in a positive way. The fact that she is 28 and is still single is something that could be heavily inspired from western culture. At the time when this film was created, the West was progressing in the aspect of granting women access to the full rights given to any white American male. It was becoming more acceptable for women to be independent, and the idea that women didn’t need to be married in order to be successful in life was becoming widely accepted as well. Norika is totally content with her life as a single woman, but her great uncle tries to jolt her back into the constricting confines of tradition. She expresses her full independence by choosing the man that she loves, and even though it goes against tradition. At the end, Norika is happy and her family learns how to be content with her choice. Through the role of the great uncle, I believe that Ozu is stating that it is okay to embrace modern thinking and aspects from western culture, but that tradition should never be forgotten.
ReplyDeleteIn the film "Early Summer", Ozu provides a positive and unbiased outlook on the merging of traditional and western culture. Rather than highlighting how great one culture is compared to the other, Ozu makes an attempt to illustrate how both cultures intertwined can make people happier in Japan. For example, Noriko's decision to marry a man that she chooses. Although her family initially did not like the idea of her marrying the family friend, eventually they found happiness at the idea of her being happy with a man that she loves. In Japan at the time, women choosing to marry a man was very unconventional. This is more of a western idea of freedom of choice. Essentially Noriko is somewhat a western woman as she always has western ideologies and wears western dresses rather than kimonos like everyone else. She is the symbol of the western culture whereas her family is a symbol of traditional Japanese culture. Noriko's choice on who to marry is an idea that clashes with the family's traditional views, but Ozu shows the audience how the intertwined culture is good by showing how the family at the end is happy. At the end of the film, the audience sees Noriko's parents at their parent's house watching a bride slowly walk away. They then begin talking about how although their family is separated, they are happy and proud of every experience they had with them. Ozu makes the clash between the two cultures into something very beautiful. His use of Mono No Aware shot composition, and dialogue, helped him illustrate how intertwined cultures can make people happier.
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