Thursday, April 14, 2016
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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The movie does make a very clear and harsh judgment of both American and Japanese ideals, and explains that only a combination of the two can lead to any form of happiness. From the beginning, it`s clear that there is a wide cultural divide between the grandparents and grandchildren. This is because each set is an archetype for a single perspective. Minoru and Isamu have no memory of the war, and have fully embraced most aspects of an American childhood. They wear baseball caps, lie to their elders, and are remarkably rude to their grandparents. They are overly materialistic, and they throw food onto the ground when they`re denied train tracts. The children are walking stereotypic representations of American culture. Sadly, this is a quite biased view. The have no redeeming qualities whatsoever and the viewer never feels much sympathy for them. They serve as a warning of what could happen in Japan if the Japanese embrace American culture too much. Conversely, the grandparents serve as models for a traditional Japanese society. They are quiet, accepting, and kind. Far more family oriented, they truly care about each member of their family. Even though they are misguided in their meddling with Noriko`s personal life, they clearly love her. Despite this they are still obstacles to her happiness, and they themselves are not completely content. They are still mourning the loss of their son years earlier. Furthermore, they reveal that they`re currently in their most enjoyable phase of life yet neither of them feels joyful. At one point, Ichiro mentions that they should not be greedy and wish for too much, but this perspective is not ideal. After showing the issues with being purely American or purely Japanese, Ozu establishes Noriko as a representative for a healthy combination. She is both polite and kind, yet she is also feminist and she values her needs over the expectation that she uphold tradition. Throughout the movie, she is the only character in her family whose life improves, mainly because of these qualities. She is not as passive as her grandparents and therefore she ends up being able to choose her husband. Similarly, she is far less impolite and materialistic than her nephews, which causes her to be able to find a mate in Japanese society, which still prizes traditional women. Ozu shows the deep faults of both Japan and the US, and uses Noriko as a tool to display how they can be effectively merged.
ReplyDeleteYasujir Ozu depicts the increasing influence that American culture had in Japan after World War II through the clothes that his characters wear in Early Summer. The older characters such as Shukichi, Shige, and Tami always wear the traditional Japanese clothing. However, Minoru and Isamu, Koichi and Fumiko’s sons, always wear American clothing (baseball caps, shorts, and t-shirts) and the young adults such as Koichi, Fumiko, and Aya wear both the traditional Japanese clothing and American clothing. Ozu shows the growing American influence through the progression of the clothing choices of each generation. The oldest generation strictly keeps to the Japanese traditions while the next generation has incorporated American clothing into their wardrobe and the youngest generation only wears American clothing. This shows that American culture is replacing Japanese culture. Ozu shows that Japanese traditions are being lost without a second thought. The older generation’s reluctance to wear any American clothes shows their strong ties to their culture and their desire to preserve it. They only follow Japanese culture and refuse anything American. The middle generation has chosen to keep some Japanese culture and bring American ideals into their lives as shown through their clothing. The youngest generation however, only wears American clothing and have not decided how they will live their lives. This can be seen when the little boys cannot decide if they want their baseball caps on or off in the family photo. Eventually they decide to keep the baseball hats on. This shows their acceptance of adding American ideals into their lives. Ozu through the clothing of his characters in Early Summer illustrates that with each new generation after World War II the Japanese traditions are being lost and replaced with American ones.
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ReplyDeleteAfter the Americans defeated the Japanese in World War II they completely redesigned the country from the constitution to daily life. The typical Japanese traditions are challenged by modern Western beliefs. The main plot of the film revolves around the clash of these old and new values. Noriko wants to marry who she chooses and not have an arranged marriage like was common during the time, this may stem from the new influence of modern American women taking a more prevalent role in society and being able to make their own decisions. Many other American influences appear in the film, just in a much less relevant to the plot form. One can see the American influence in the clothing that many of the characters choose to wear, while some characters (typically the ones who greatly adhere to traditional Japanese values) wear traditional kimonos and yukatas, many characters wear very Western style clothing. Noriko and her boss wear typical western business casual attire and Minoru always wore an American baseball cap. Western influence also showed itself in Isamu and Minoru, as the children did not seem to deeply respect their parents but rather become more independent (in this case they seem to be downright bratty and rude). Isamu seems to blindly follow Minoru’s lead and gets in trouble for it which shows that not all American influence is good. Throughout the film, American influence subtly shows itself from the soda that Noriko and Aya are drinking when they invited their friends to a lunch party to the western style teahouse that Noriko’s friend group enjoys. America remolded Japan after the war into a far Eastern version of the West; and while many may say the abandonment of the traditional values was bad for the Japanese culture, the post-war economic miracle that America assisted in creating was far more beneficial to the country.
ReplyDeleteI think this movie as a whole is an example of the internal cultural battle that is taking place during Japan in the time after world war two. On one side you have the older generations that are opposed to the change in lifestyle that they became accustomed to and on the other side you have the younger generation that has taken on some of the American morals. Ozu as a whole takes the political position that is in favor of the shifting society through the relationships between Noriko and her parents. Noriko has embodied a more American concept of autonomy when she decides that she is going to choose to marry, as opposed to be married away by the man of her family’s choice. There is an initial blowback from her brother and her parents on her choice to break from the accepted Japanese culture. Specifically this can be seen with the anger of her brother who slams the table and her parents, who question their daughter’s decisionmaking. However, through some many well crafted scenes of change and overhaul we see the mindset shift that takes place. For example, there is the long scene with the passing train rolling by and the clouds changing throughout the day. These sorts of scenes help establish this culture shift subtlety. Her family begins to accept the reality that it should be Noriko’s choice to find who she thinks will make her happy. This movie is a call to the people of Japan to begin to open their arms to the new presence that is injecting different values and hot dogs into the Japanese society.
ReplyDeleteThe film Early Summer takes place in in the years in the years following World War II. After the war, Japanese families had to resume life with American influences. Early Summer shows how the different generations dealt with the new influence; the elders and the adults wanted to shut out the American culture while the younger generation wanted to adapt. The main plotline in the film is Noriko’s journey into marriage. While Noriko’s parents and Grandparents arrange for her to marry a successful older man (40 years old), she pursues a childhood friend. Her decision to choose her own husband is influenced by western culture and goes against the Japanese traditional arranged marriage; her decision eventually tears the family apart. Eventually, she moves out of the family home with her husband Yabe and her family has to accept that her separation from the family is a part of growing up. Her dates with friends and men seem to reflect the adoption of American culture. In the beginning of the film, she and her friends ate out at traditional Japanese restaurants with low tables and pillows instead of chairs. However, as she began to rebel, she went out with friends to western restaurants with chairs and high tables. Like Noriko, her two nephews also embrace American culture, specifically the rebellion aspect. In Asian culture, rebellion against one’s elders is intolerable. However, in Early Summer, the two young boys rebel and disrespect their elders. In the beginning of the film, after being cared for by his grandfather, one of the boys says to his grandfather “I love you” only for a treat. After getting the treat he turns around and says “I hate you”. In another scene, one of the boys calls an older man “idiot” multiple times because he believes the older man is deaf. In a third scene, the boys throw a tantrum after not getting a toy train set from their father; they throw food on the floor and scream at their father. I believe that although the younger generation did begin to be more rebellious than the older generation, the film exaggerates the rebellion to prove a point. Today, American culture can be seen throughout Japan and the world.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this film intends to show two sides of culture: the modern American, and the more classic Japanese style. The film shows this by having a wide range of characters who can fall under either category. The obvious picks for the modern American category are the young boys who always wear baseball caps, and Noriko. The young boys just seem American to me, and are generally pretty rebellious towards their traditional Japanese elders. Noriko isn’t as obvious as the boys, but she falls into the category because of her decision to pick who she wants to marry instead of it being arranged. Even Noriko’s friend can see it in her as she speaks in English saying how Noriko will have a white picket fence and be all modern like an American woman. Most of the other characters in the film fall into the traditional Japanese culture. They are the ones that shy away from the modernity of Noriko and the boys. For example, when the boys throw a tantrum when not receiving train tracks, it is the traditional father who punishes them and almost doesn’t want anything to do with them. He even goes to a friend’s house and plays checkers instead of looking for his sons after they run away. This is a strong example of the divide that the film creates between the modern and old.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this film intends to show two sides of culture: the modern American, and the more classic Japanese style. The film shows this by having a wide range of characters who can fall under either category. The obvious picks for the modern American category are the young boys who always wear baseball caps, and Noriko. The young boys just seem American to me, and are generally pretty rebellious towards their traditional Japanese elders. Noriko isn’t as obvious as the boys, but she falls into the category because of her decision to pick who she wants to marry instead of it being arranged. Even Noriko’s friend can see it in her as she speaks in English saying how Noriko will have a white picket fence and be all modern like an American woman. Most of the other characters in the film fall into the traditional Japanese culture. They are the ones that shy away from the modernity of Noriko and the boys. For example, when the boys throw a tantrum when not receiving train tracks, it is the traditional father who punishes them and almost doesn’t want anything to do with them. He even goes to a friend’s house and plays checkers instead of looking for his sons after they run away. This is a strong example of the divide that the film creates between the modern and old.
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