Friday, April 8, 2011
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 Tokyo Story can you better understand this concept? What were your emotional feelings at the end of the film? What were you thinking when you saw the final image: the old man alone in the house fanning himself? Are there other moments when you felt the sadness and the beauty of life?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Tokyo Story is a story about the beauty of realization that ironically emerges from the ultimate sadness of life. For example, throughout the film, Ozu emphasizes the family’s selfishness towards their elderly parents. However, when the elderly mother eventually passes away, the family convenes after a long time of living their separate lives, to reminisce about the memories of their mother. The children do not realize how much they loved their mother until they lost her for good. Another example of the concept of Mono no aware is at the end of the film when Shukichi is fanning himself on a hot evening, as a neighbor lady walks by and comments on his loneliness, just as she had at the film’s start with the couple over their upcoming trip. He remarks that if he had known things would turn out like this he would have been kinder to Tomi. Ozu includes two similar scenes, one at the beginning of the film and one at the end, to emphasize his point that it took the death of Tomi for Shukichi to really appreciate her. Although the concept of Mono no aware appears disheartening, there is a positive outcome. Now that the family comprehends the value of human relationships, they will never take advantage of each other’s love because of the lesson that Tomi’s death taught them.
ReplyDeleteTokyo Story is a realistic and saddening film about the changes a family goes through over time. In the beginning, Shukichi and Tomi are thrilled to be able to visit their children and grandchildren in Tokyo, and the beauty of a family reunion is clear. Yet, soon after the couple arrives, the family seems to be annoyed with the presence of Shukichi and Tomi, and they simply carry on with their own lives and ignore their visiting family members. They take their healthy and loving parents for granted and they do all they can to keep Shukichi and Tomi out of their way. They even send them to a hotel, and when they return, their daughter says they should have stayed longer. There is an overall sense of sadness, and as a viewer, I felt sympathy for Shukichi and Tomi, who made the effort to travel all the way to Tokyo only for their children and grandchildren to disrespect them and act like they weren’t even there. The beauty of family is overshadowed by the disappointment felt by the old couple, who expected to spend a wonderful trip to Tokyo bonding with their family. Shukichi often acknowledges his disappointment with his children, but he never fails to mention how they “could be worse.” Although Shukichi remains mostly positive throughout the film, the final image of him sitting alone breaks my heart, and it is a part of the film when Ozu truly displays the sadness of life. Although it seems as though the family has learned their lesson and will not take family for granted, the children leave Shukichi soon after the death of Tomi. He simply forces a smile, not even complaining the slightest bit about being left alone during such a difficult time in his life. The unfortunate ending of the film leaves the viewer feeling gloomy and full of sorrow, realizing the ultimate sadness and disappointment of life.
ReplyDeleteYasujiro Ozu’s “Tokyo Story,” epitomizes the concept of “mono no aware.” This is the Japanese cultural notion of the acceptance and appreciation of the transience and inevitable disappointment of life. This seemingly discouraging view of life simply suggests that beautiful things occur momentarily, and that in the end, life may be somewhat sad. The best way to deal with this inevitability is simply to accept it and move on. This take on life is demonstrated by Shukishi and Tomi Hirayama, the two central figures of “Tokyo Story.” The two travel to visit their grown children, Koichi, Shige, and Keizo, in hopes of spending quality time with them. However, the two parents, instead, find themselves disregarded and mistreated by all of their family members, except for their daughter-in-law, Noriko. Shukishi and Tomi accept the fact that as time progressed, their brief close relationship with their children came and went. Accepting this ever-changing way of life, the two return home. However, during their trip home, Tomi falls seriously ill. Her condition worsens, so her children and Noriko travel to Shukishi and Tomi’s home in Onomichi to be by their dying mother’s side. Eventually, Tomi dies. At her funeral, the previously distant, dysfunctional family gathers together to comfort and console one another in their time of remorse. This sentimental, bittersweet moment appears as a hopeful sign of the rejoining of this broken, distant family. However, the peaceful, touching moment comes to a quick end when Koichi, Shige and Keizo insist they return right away to their busy lives back in the city. The brevity of this special moment and Shukishi’s ultimate loneliness are, once again, demonstrations of life’s transient and disappointing nature.
ReplyDeleteMono no aware in Tokyo Story is obviously the compelling idea that drives this plot forward, the dying grandmother goes to see her children and grandchildren for the last time before she dies. The only person who seems to have an appreciation of the shortness of life is not even a family member and gladly houses the grandmother for a short while when everyone else considers her a burden. When she eventually dies it acts as a proverbial slap to the face of all the old woman's children making them realize that life is short for you and those you care about. The funeral is when the family becomes unified and is the redeeming part of their ignorance of her failing health they all can be together and share the good the memories they had of her, and that's all anyone ever has of someone who passes away.
ReplyDelete