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Good Morning (Ohayo) (Yasujiro Ozu) 1959
Notice in these successive shots how Ozu looks at his characters, dead-on. This is typical of his style.
The temptation certainly exists to
just read Good Morning as a slice of life tale that shows the foibles of the
people in the town, but there may be a bit more to it than that. Although Isamu,
the small child who follows his brother throughout the film is adorable, the
goal of their protest (they want a television) seems less than noble. Also,
Isamu’s mimicry appears to be endearing, but isn’t it also a tad creepy that
he’s being led into a strike that he doesn’t quite understand? This
ambiguity seems to extend to the other characters. Ozu brings up the effects of
Japan’s mandatory retirement several times during the film. He seems quite
critical of the system, as it forces “retired” workers to act as
door-to-door salespeople that seem to function more as a burden than a service
to their customers. Still, when his main adult characters realize their own
retirement is impending, they simply shrug it off without any real planning. He
doesn’t necessarily decry their behavior, but the film almost seems as
contemptuous of it as it is of the system that forces the predicament. The
film’s greatest amount of vitriol is spent condemning the communication gap
between generations. Quite simply, the film thinks true communication between
generations is impossible. It could be argued that Ozu raises such issues
precisely to show that his love for this class of people extends beyond whatever
faults they might have. Still, the decision to end many of his scenes the way he
does makes the film feel less like a collection of slices of life and more like
judgements of that lifestyle. I haven’t seen enough of Ozu’s to judge his
attitudes, but his established reputation as a great cinematic humanist seems
somewhat simpleminded. As admittedly funny as it is, Good Morning doesn’t seem
content to simply giggle at the poor folks, but instead creates a profoundly
stated comic view on society. This is a much more complex, ambiguous, and
challenging film that most reduce it to.
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Set mainly in four homes in a small 1950’s Japanese village, Yasujiro Ozu’s
Good Morning (Ohayo) is an exceptionally wise comedy. It appears outwardly
gentle, but hides a great deal of political content. Sure, there are some jokes
about bodily functions here, but much of the film’s humor comes from the
pretense that makes a fart joke a faux pas, not from the flatulence itself. That
seems to be Ozu’s game. He takes down our defenses by showing us characters
that are exceptionally mundane working-class folks, then uses their petty
concerns to make broader social commentary. That he seems to think their
concerns are petty is a suspicion that occasionally arises, but generally he
seems to legitimately care about the characters on display. He takes the camera
literally down to the level of a seated character, and his camera looks at them
head-on while they speak. He seems to suggest that he’s interested in
examining these normally unexamined characters, but his stylistic choices could
easily be interpreted as condescension. After all, that same focused attention
almost feels like a study of these “common” people. That he feels compelled
to study them so intently suggests he might not quite relate to or understand
them.
