The only Son - Movie Review

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Importance of moral values:

The movie emphasizes the importance of moral values in one’s character. Towards the end of the movie, when Ryosuke’s neighbour’s son gets injured, he gives all the money he has to his neighbor for the treatment of her son. He insists that she must keep it because he believes in doing for others and helping others. Also, the mother praises Ryosuke’s act of kindness by telling him that he had done a great deed by helping a fellow human being.

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Sacrifice

The movie constantly shows sacrifices - Tsune’s for her son, Ryosuke’s for his neighbour, Ryosuke’s promise for his son. We see that the first one fails to achieve its intended end, the second one is very well received, while the third is left to us as a hope. All these promises were symbolic. They showed that sacrifices don’t always reap benefits as may have been expected.

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Cinematic features and moment of Camera:

- In the whole it can be observed that while shooting a scene, moment of camera is very less

- Ozu usually shoots from the eye level of a person seated on a mat. And most of scenes involves some constant camera angle

- He often begins shots before characters enter, and holds them after they leave

- He separates important scenes with "pillow shots" of exterior architectural or landscape details.

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Establishment of context

The movie starts with the first few scenes depicting a factory setting, which essentially establish the historical context of the movie wherein a majority of the rural labour force in then Japan comprised of women silk mill workers. Showcasing signs reading “women workers wanted” and the harsh work conditions they toiled in further adds on to the contextual background of the movie. The movie also comes across as a first of a kind, where Ozu chose to show such conditions to an audience which had never before seen such content on screen.

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Significance of the ending

After this background, Tsune’s decision to send her son to High school forsaking all her savings finally reflect themselves and we are led to final scene where courtyard became a prison, suffocating her. Now all of this became a waste for her.

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Irony in Contrast

During the entire movie, we see various scenes bringing out comparisons between rural and urban settings to show both the disparity and the irony in living and working standards. The movie compares the dim lanterns in Tsune’s house to the electric lights in Ryosuke’s, while also comparing Shinshu’s factory setting to the even worse Tokyo’s mill setting which had pieces of cloth strewn everywhere.

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Unanswered questions

In the movie, Ozu jumps directly from Ryosuke’s high school decision to Tsune’s Tokyo visit, skipping everything in between. This poses questions on the audience, like why did Ryosuke leave his Ward Office job or what hardships did he face while studying in Tokyo. Answering these questions would have greatly diminished the impact the movie had on the audience, while not answering them fully conveyed the idea behind the movie to the audience and led to this increased impact. It is the lone work in Ozu's filmography with notated time gaps; their importance is fundamental to establishing emotional links in the characters' journeys through educational and personal aspirations.

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A proud yet disappointed mother

The movie has scenes carrying this sentiment of Ryosuke’s mother. This comes out through the scene where Tsune praises Ryosuke for helping out Okuba, where she is proud of his helpfulness yet also disappointed of his poverty; Also through the scene showcasing Tsune talking to her friend, wanting to retain her pride yet disappointed of her son.

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Todorov’s Riddle

We see an effective use of Todorov’s riddle in the starting and ending sequences of the movie. In the factory setting, we see a rise up from lights to the high rise factory setting signifying a high point in the movie. The ending sequence ends with a low level angle of the factory moving out to the backyard symbolizing the proletariat condition of Tsune, an example of creative use of cinematic elements by Yasujiro Ozu wherein he adds to the impact of the genre by showcasing a high point towards the start of the movie and a low point towards the end.

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Childhood symbolization

Ryosuke and his mother’s relationship symbolizes the common wish of everyone to be able to return to their childhood days. This comes across in the movie through various scenes. A scene has Ryosuke saying to his mother that he should have stayed with her, showing how he loved his childhood days and the kind of protection she provided to him. Another scene when Tsune has left and Ryosuke has a baby bottle in his hands, also suggests not only Ryosuke’s concern for his future but also his wish to return to his childhood.

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Value of Social Status

In the last scene where Tsune lies to her friend about Ryosuke’s condition in Tokyo, we see a typical symbolization of not only then but even of today’s society, where people try to maintain a false face before everyone so as to also see a higher status for themselves in their own eyes.

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German Influence

We see instances of German influence in Japan through the movie. A scene has Tsune and Ryosuke attending a German Talkie while we also see posters about Germany and it’s icons in Ryosuke’s house. This establishes Germany’s historical influence over Japan in the days leading to World War II and we see how the Japanese may have come to side with the Germans.

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