Tuesday, April 9, 2013
All in the Family
Tokyo Story shows the relationship between two aged parents and their grown children. On a visit to Tokyo to visit their children, who turn out to be more busy and less successful than they supposed, they are unceremoniously shuffled from child to child and eventually to a resort. By the end of their trip, the mother relies on the kindness of her son's widow and the father becomes drunk and is escorted by the police to his daughter's home. Returning home the mother becomes sick and dies. The children return for the funeral and leave their father alone. How accurate is this portrayal of family life? Is this a "slice of life" (and part of the reason it feels as if "nothing happens")? Does this remind you of your family? Is this how families work? Focus on one scene or character and discuss what it tells us about the dynamics of family life.
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Some may consider the film Tokyo Story rather uneventful and “boring.” Others however, may recognize the skillful and depressing way in which family and familial relationships are portrayed. Unfortunately, in the film, the strong depiction of a detached family strikes way too close to home for many film viewers. The movie touches on the sensitive subject of growing older and inevitably growing further apart from siblings and parents as time goes on. While, to me, the distant relationship between the parents and children appeared somewhat extreme for the “typical” family, I do believe that such disconnect does occur to some extent in most families. Nevertheless, the film does highlight a bit of a happier relationship prevalent in many families: the relationship between a family member and a relative who is not blood related. The connection between the daughter-in-law and the parents is the greatest depiction of such a relationship. The daughter-in-law treats the parents the nicest out of all the children when they visit. Unlike the other children who dish of the parents to a new home as soon as they can, the daughter-in-law genuinely appears excited to spend time with both the mother and father. Most notably, however, is how the daughter-in-law was the only one truly there for the father after his wife’s funeral. All the blood related children leave very shortly after the funeral. One daughter is more concerned with her inheritance than the fact that she just lost her mother. The daughter-in-law, however, spends time with the widowed father long after the other children leave. She makes sure he is okay before she departs, and even the father recognizes that her concern is far greater than the other children’s concern. The father shares at this moment that one of the best parts of the trip for the mother was when she spent time with the daughter-in-law.
ReplyDeleteI believe that often “non-blood” relationships can be very strong. I know that in my life, I was particularly close with my great uncle, who I was related to through marriage. When he passed, my great aunt, his wife, shared with me that he considered me a grandchild. She explained that I called him, made him laugh, and listened to his stories more than any of his true grandchildren or blood relatives. Some individuals just click in a way that over-powers shared DNA. I am very lucky to have an unusually close family. My oldest brother is 7 years older than me; however, we still talk almost every day. My parents are some of my closest friends and I could not imagine life without my other brother and my sister. Nevertheless, the movie really did start me thinking. What will happen when I go to college? How about when I start my own family? Will I ever not want my parents to visit? Whatever may happen, I can rest very assured that we will never reach the level of disconnect like the family in Tokyo Story. The movie left me both grateful that I have the family I do, yet saddened that some families, like the one in the movie, are not as fortunate.
This movie tells a very true story about aging parents who are disconnected from their children. The disconnect is magnified by the fact that the parents live in a more remote location, while the children are living in a more globalized Tokyo. The film does not have much exciting action, and some may call it boring, but it tells a real story that is more relatable than any action film. It is the story of a kind elderly couple, who want to see their children succeed, but whose kids treat the relationship more as a formality than a true parent/child relationship. The family remains very proper, for example, after the mother dies, and the children begin to leave, they don't have much bodily contact with their father, and everybody remains very stoic. This unemotional behavior contributes to the distant relationship that develops. Another example of the distant relationship is when the daughter who is a hairdresser is talking to her father and other siblings after the funeral, and begins asking if she can have certain articles of clothing from her mother. This reminded of parts from the movie Gran Torino when Walt's family seems to care more about getting his things then being there for him This scene in Tokyo story reinforced the narrative of uncaring children who do not show any real respect for older people, including their parents who are good people, and care about them. I believe that this is a common occurrence between parents and children, although perhaps not to the same extent as in Tokyo Story. I also think that this scenario goes beyond the parent/children relationship, and is a symbol of what some in America saw as the elements of the baby boomer generation disrespecting older members of the GI Generation, or the Greatest Generation. This is seen in a Japanese context in Tokyo Story, where the more cosmopolitan children living in Tokyo grow distant from there less worldly parents.
ReplyDeleteThe film, Tokyo Story, is without a doubt a “slice of life”. The film, as described above, is a pretty uneventful story, aside from the death of the mother. Throughout the film there are many different places the father and mother go to; however, most of their visits are uneventful and the majority of them are simply scenes with dialogue. The dialogue used in the film definitely supports the idea of the film being a “slice of life” because in the film’s dialogue no one is arguing about politics or the war and there really aren’t any fights or arguments of any sort. The way the film is portrayed and the “slice of life” style of the film definitely contribute the feeling that nothing happens; however if the film’s viewers actually take the time to think about why someone would create a film like this, they can walk away very satisfied. The film recognizes that life is often slow and uneventful; it also captures the way family relationships are in the real world. In many of film’s families live picture perfect lives or the opposite, where they have absolutely miserable lives. In Tokyo Story it is clear that the family is the hard truth on what many families are really like, they aren’t necessarily miserable, but things aren’t perfect. I feel like this film is designed to make the viewer reflect on their family and either appreciate what they have or to inspire people to go and try to improve their family’s relationship and maybe go tell their parents they appreciate them.
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