|
GOOD
MORNING

Ohayō
|
1959
|
|
Color
. 94 minutes
Shochiku Ofuna Studio
Written By
Ozu Yasujiro
Noda Kogo
Cinematography
Atsuta Yuharu
Music By
Mayuzumi Toshiro
Cast
Sata Keniji (Fukui Heichiro)
Kuga Yoshiko (Arita Setsuko)
Ryu Chishu (Hayashi Keitaro)
Miyake Kuniko (Tamiko)
Sugimura Haruko (Haraguchi Kikue)
Shigaraki Koji (Minoru)
Shimazu Masahiko (Isamu)
Shirata Hajime (Kozo)
Tanaka Haruo (Haraguchi)
Miyoshi Eiko (Haraguchi Grandma)
Takahashi Toyo (Okubo Shige)
Fujiki Masuo (Zen)
Tono Eijiro (Tomizawa)
Nagaoka Teruko (Mrs Tomizawa)
|
Synopsis
Scolded by their parents for missing their English
lessons in order to watch sumo wrestling on their
neighbor's newly acquired TV, brothers Minoru
and Isamu take a vow of silence to pressure their
father into buying one. Their behavior exacerbates
relations between members of the local woman's
club, where the loss of some club dues has lead
to a spate of gossip, allegations and misunderstandings.
At the same time, the boys' English teacher, Fukui,
is in love with their aunt, but whenever they
meet, they are too shy to express their feelings
and instead exchange polite greetings. After getting
into trouble at school for the vow of silence,
the boys run away from home. When they come home,
instead of being punished, there's a brand new
TV in the house.
Thoughts from Ozu
I conceived this story ages ago. Human beings
love idle prattle, but when it comes to saying
something important at critical moments, they
get tongue-tied. I wanted to make that the subject
of a film, but once preparation got underway,
things were not as easy as they seemed. I pitched
the idea to the Directors' Association, and everybody
thought it was an interesting subject. Yet when
I offered them to let them turn it into a film,
nobody rose to the occasion. So I made up my mind
to do it myself. Although this story which was
conceived a while ago had a rather bitter edge,
as I got older, I was promoted by box office considerations
to make a sidesplitting comedy. Well, to be precise,
I wasn't so concerned about box office performance
as wishing that more people would come and watch
my film.
|
Background
The
50th film, shot from January to April 1959. In
November 1958, Ozu received the Purple Ribbon
Medal, and in January 1959, he was honored with
an award from the Japan Art Academy. His first
film after these honors was typical for him. In
a sudden change of pace, he made a film about
farts, showing his joke spirit. However, the scenario
had been completed in the previous year. Ozu had
liked this gag since his silent films. The shooting
of The Lady and the Beard was delayed,
and the crew had to work overnight for five days.
When human beings do not sleep for such a long
time, they lose their appetite, but (it is said
that) they pass wind easily. The overtired crew
was joking on the set by pushing somebody's belly
and passing wind himself, and the like. This is
a pleasant gag, but not very effective in silent
films. In Good Morning, this is not just
a simple gag, but the biggest element, sounding
throughout the film. However, since using the
real sound would have been too lively, a wind
instrument performs it artificially. The scene
is laid in a new-built town somewhere in the western
parts of Tokyo and confined to five houses. This
film belongs to the "house of the suburbs"
genre, also by its setting as by the central family
of the office worker Kubote. The children like
to joke with farts, reminding us vividly of I
Was Born, But... of the past. However, the
children are dissatisfied with their father because
they do not have a television set at home, and
problems are solved by the center of the town
and the suburbs is weakened. This theme is about
to disappear, since this tension and contrast
disappears. In opposite proportion to the loosening
of this tension, the housewives of these five
houses interact in this restricted space (reminding
us of the restricted space in early Ozu films).
The limits of their actions correspond to the
unreality and fictitiouness of this film's space.
These five houses are almost as constricted as
the tenement house in The Record of a Tenement
Gentleman in a corner of the town that seems
to have miraculously survived the devastation
of war. Ozu's special interest in this film was
rather the various uses of the color. Each drawer
of a chest painted in a different color, the pattern
of the dressing gown of the old mother in the
Haraguchi family (played by Miyoshi Eiko) and
other examples show that Ozu joyfully played with
his new toy: "color".
|
|
Articles
/ Essays
Good
Morning
by Matthew Dessem (Criterion Contraption)
|
|
|
Personal
Thoughts and Comments
Ozu's 1959 Good Morning is said to be a
loose remake of his monumental 1932 silent film
I Was Born, But..., though the similarities
between the two films are rather minor as they
are clearly unique in both tone and narrative.
As with any Ozu film it's simplistic techniques
do not discourage the complex depths and themes
which result. Ultimately, Good Morning
is a delightful film of contemporary Japanese
society and consumerism within a suburban household,
as well as an examination into communication and
community. It's a comedy which is presented with
satire, but it never becomes political and the
calm and intelligent filmmaking from Ozu results
in an equally profound and funny film (even if
there are many "bodily function" jokes
throughout). Ozu is one of the very greatest directors
of children and the children here are outstanding
(notably in their expressive vow of silence).
Ozu presents the film in glorious Agfacolor and
it's beauty wonderfully captures the atmosphere
and energy of the film, the suburbs of Japan,
and the characters of the film.
|
|
"Pillow
Shots" |
|
|
|
|
|
A
clip from Good Morning |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
          
|