Thursday, April 14, 2016
Mono No Aware
Mono no aware is the Japanese idea of the awareness of the transience of beauty and the ultimate sadness of life. After watching Early Summer can you better understand this concept? Where there scenes that evoked both feelings of joy and sadness, moments of beauty and tears? What were your emotions at the end of the film? What did you think about some of the images we discussed in class: the waves, the caged bird, the child's balloon? Are there moments when you felt the sadness and the beauty of life?
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I think it was only after watching Early Summer that I was able to wrap my head around the idea of mono noir. I think the scene where Noriko is having tea with her family and addresses the issue of her leaving after getting married embodies mono noir quite perfectly. She is crying profusely at what should be one of the happiest times in her life. Upon watching this scene I initially felt very happy for Noriko. I was beyond happy that she chose to marry who she wanted. She ditched the pre-arranged fellow and went for the man who she chose on her own. Despite the happiness I felt and knew she felt, the entire moment was tinged with sadness because the family would be breaking apart. Her tears made me realize the extent of the sadness and pain she was feeling and embarking on the happiest journey in her life. The reason she was sad was because of what was ending and what she was losing, but she was happy because she was about to start the next phase of her life, which would also end. My feelings in response to this moment were essentially my feelings at the end of the film; I believe it was bittersweet. The realization that everything has to come to an end causes you to enjoy it more, and I believe you cannot feel the beauty of life without feeling the sadness of it. The waves, the caged bird, and the child’s balloon all prompted my same reaction as the previously mentioned scene, just slightly diluted. So I left the film with this overall feeling of sadness that life was so beautiful because that beauty and perfection was going to be taken away at some point.
ReplyDeleteMono no aware is the idea that the short-lifespan of something is the reason for its beauty. Early Summer helps show this idea. The family is seen happiest enjoying the aspects of their lives that were fading away the quickest. They expressed their happiness verbally and physically. One example of this is when they take the family photograph. The family discusses how they will soon be broken up and separated. The grandparents are seen the happiest, but are also sad that this beautiful moment will pass in the blink of an eye. Another example is the grandparents looking at the balloon fly away. It gave us insight of their past when their child's balloon flew away and how life went by so fast. This scene explained how human life is beautiful because it short-lived and temporary. After the film concluded I felt joy because the family was moving in new directions, but sadness at the fact that their beautiful family was now separated. I realized that all good times and experiences come to an end which sort of put me in a pessimistic mood for the rest of the day, however, I also learned that it is the temporariness of the events that makes them good. When analyzing the symbols after the film these symbols they showed me how the beautiful sights in nature all reflect the concept of mono no aware because they all come to an end. For example, the waves never last as they always crash into the shore and break form. The caged bird is a living animal that eventually must die. The child's balloon is seen floating away never to come back. All of these images show that beauty never lasts, but it is important to enjoy it while it is there.
ReplyDeleteMono No Aware is when something beautiful or good is fleeting, which is what makes it beautiful. At the same time, because this wonderful thing is fleeting, there is sadness. In Early Summer, there is an example of Mono No Aware shown through a cake. The family buys an expensive delicious cake. It’s not very often this family has cake, and it’s obviously not going to last very long. Since it will not last very long, while the family is eating it, they almost cherish the cake. If the family were to have cake every day, it would not be as special to them because it would be so normal. Since it is so rare and short-lived, it is significant. Another bigger example of Mono No Aware is when Noriko is about to get married and has to move away. There is both sadness and happiness that comes from this. The sadness comes from the family being separated. The togetherness of the family is fleeting, making the time they still have together so cherished. The happiness is from Noriko finally finding a man that she wants to be with and starting a new family. The beauty of life is that often times when there is melancholy, there is also some joy. Eventually after Noriko has children, this same cycle will happen again where she will want her family to stay together, but she will also want the beginning of a new life for her son or daughter. Mono No Aware evokes conflicting emotions that show both the sadness and the beauty of life.
ReplyDeleteIn an increasingly fast-paced world, many overlook the beauty and surprise of life in their desperate attempts to extend their lives to bigger and better levels. As described by the Japanese theory of Mono No Aware, it is only through recognizing the ephemeral (and therefore tinged with sorrow) moments of beauty in our lives that we may find happiness. Early Summer’s editing and content makes a viewer feel as if each fleeting minute of life is cherished and important, even when bittersweet. The film includes symbolism that can directly relate to Mono no aware—the trapped and eventually-ending elegance of caged birds, the rise and fall of the tide, the sweetness yet sorrow of a balloon escaped from a young child—but I think the way in which scenes are filmed adds even more to the “fading beauty” theme. The camera is usually unmoving, allowing a viewer to focus on the simplicity of each moment rather than needing to keep up with dramatic action. Many shots are long and some linger on an empty hallway or deserted park bench, forcing the audience to truly capture the essence of a scene before it inevitably cuts away. Additionally, Ozu’s style includes scenes that tell of complete everyday life—the family eating dinner, listening to music, or cooking—rather than scenes that directly advance the plot. Though moments like these are often cut from a modern Hollywood movie (since they can feel boring or unimportant), Ozu instead stresses the quiet, beautiful sense of togetherness that the scenes create. After all, every member of Noriko’s family knows that the togetherness will not last after Noriko moves away. Similarly, the nostalgic aura of the grandparents caused me to feel content yet melancholy as the movie drew to a close. When the grandfather must wait on a park bench as a train passes, for example, he stares into the blue sky with an expression of complete mindfulness. It seems as if he is simultaneously reminiscing about the beauty he has lost in his life and smiling about the beauty his children and grandchildren have in front of them. Ozu in Early Summer makes the clock ‘slow down’ by emphasizing the bittersweet harmony of a family entering a time of major changes, and shows that the true beauty of life is in these moments that cannot last.
ReplyDeleteMono no aware is the idea that death gives things value because it makes us appreciate them while we have them, knowing that there will come a day when they are no longer with us. The film opens up with waves which represent this idea since just like things, waves come and go and there is no way to stop this from happiness. Throughout the film there are scenes that make the audience feel happy and sad because they are scenes that demonstrate the ideas on Mono no aware. One example is when the family is in one of their last nights together before Noriko leaves. In this scene we see the family having a good time together which made me feel happy for them, but at the same time both the family and the audience know that moments like this one won’t happen again for a while so there is also some sadness in the scene. I think that the characters in this film really show that they understand Mono no aware, especially the grandparents. I really liked the last scene where we see the grandparents watching the balloon fly away. I thought that this scene really showed that the grandparents were able to appreciate their time with their family and the live that they have had up to this point and the balloon reminded them of how fast time passes because it reminds them of when they had young kids and they lost their own balloons. In this scene I felt very happy for them because it was clear that they appreciate things that they have or that they had. At the same time, seeing them alone and knowing that they think about their family a lot of the time made me sad because we know that they won’t be together forever and they realize this at this point.
ReplyDeleteIn an increasingly fast-paced world, many overlook the beauty and surprise of life in their desperate attempts to extend their lives to bigger and better levels. As described by the Japanese theory of Mono No Aware, it is only through recognizing the ephemeral (and therefore tinged with sorrow) moments of beauty in our lives that we may find happiness. Early Summer’s editing and content makes a viewer feel as if each fleeting minute of life is cherished and important, even when bittersweet. The film includes symbolism that can directly relate to Mono no aware—the trapped and eventually-ending elegance of caged birds, the rise and fall of the tide, the sweetness yet sorrow of a balloon escaped from a young child—but I think the way in which scenes are filmed adds even more to the “fading beauty” theme. The camera is usually unmoving, allowing a viewer to focus on the simplicity of each moment rather than needing to keep up with dramatic action. Many shots are long and some linger on an empty hallway or deserted park bench, forcing the audience to truly capture the essence of a scene before it inevitably cuts away. Additionally, Ozu’s style includes scenes that tell of complete everyday life—the family eating dinner, listening to music, or cooking—rather than scenes that directly advance the plot. Though moments like these are often cut from a modern Hollywood movie (since they can feel boring or unimportant), Ozu instead stresses the quiet, beautiful sense of togetherness that the scenes create. After all, every member of Noriko’s family knows that the togetherness will not last after Noriko moves away. Similarly, the nostalgic aura of the grandparents caused me to feel content yet melancholy as the movie drew to a close. When the grandfather must wait on a park bench as a train passes, for example, he stares into the blue sky with an expression of complete mindfulness. It seems as if he is simultaneously reminiscing about the beauty he has lost in his life and smiling about the beauty his children and grandchildren have in front of them. Ozu in Early Summer makes the clock ‘slow down’ by emphasizing the bittersweet harmony of a family entering a time of major changes, and shows that the true beauty of life is in these moments that cannot last.
ReplyDeleteWhile Early Summer might be viewed as slow and boring by some, it is also very emotional and beautiful because of its use of mono no aware. Mono no aware is the idea that the length of life determines its beauty. There are two ways of viewing this. The first is that things with short life spans are more beautiful and the second is that as people grow older, they can appreciate the beauty of life more than those who haven’t had the experiences they have. There are examples of both of these in this film, both given by the grandparents. The example of beauty in short time is given at the end when the grandparents carefully watch a balloon fly away into the sky, perhaps thinking of their family. They are happy when their family is together but the balloon reminds them that they don’t have much time left with everyone together. They greatly appreciate the time they have together because of their knowledge that it is fleeting. The example of appreciation is when the grandfather sits at the train station and watches the world in front of him. He appreciates the train, the sky, and all of the things around him because he knows he might not be able to see them for much longer. These are both scenes that make what might be known as boring scenes because they are uneventful and long, to be actually very beautiful scenes. The audience feels both the happiness and the sadness the grandparents feel in these scenes. The long takes give the audience a while to figure out the meaning behind the scenes and feel every emotion that takes part during it.
ReplyDeleteIn “Early Summer”, a new light is shed on the meaningful beauty of life. Mono no aware is the idea that life is so precious because it is so fleeting. The mortality of life is what makes life striking and worth living. Personally, after watching this film, I understand mono no aware much better because it was portrayed so clearly in a lot of the scenes. The most striking scenes for me, in terms of mono no aware, were the balloon scene and the scene where the grandpa was looking up at the clouds. Both of these scenes are focused on the sky, which I thought was very symbolic. When you think of the sky, I’m sure you think of something big and never-ending. This provides a very sharp contrast to life because if we know one thing for certain, life is definitely finite. Mono no aware is shown in the scenes with the sky, though, because, just like life, the sky is beautiful in its own nature. The sky is something that is beautiful and will go on forever; whereas life is something that is beautiful but can be gone in an instant. I think the scenes in “Early Summer” that show the sky are vital to the theme of mono no aware because it really gives the viewer time to stop think about the beauty of life and about how much we should all cherish it. It can be gone in the blink of an eye.
ReplyDeleteMono no aware plays a significant role in the development of Early Summer in that it is relevant to every stage in life. The driving principle of mono no aware is that beauty is fleeting and therefore cannot exist without sadness. Life is temporary and we would not appreciate it fully if it were to last forever. The image of the balloon floating into the sky perfectly encapsulates this concept. The grandfather notes that a child is crying somewhere due to loosing the balloon. However, he smiles and reminisces about a time when his own child lost a balloon. The human experience is about loss and the child will now appreciate what he has, with the knowledge that everything is temporary. Another example of mono no aware in this film occurs when the family drifts apart after Noriko marries. Noriko seems the most upset because she feels that she is the reason for her family splitting. However, her father reflects that it was inevitable for the family to separate. He is content that they have spent so much time together and lived an ‘above-average’ life. The time they had was made beautiful by its temporal and fleeting nature. Loss is a part of love, the same as death is a part of life. So while it is sad that the family is no longer together, there is beauty in this loss. Early Summer is a very slow-paced movie which intentionally lacks action, but rather the plot development asks the viewer to reflect on how sadness and beauty are connected. And it turns out that they are tied very closely together.
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