The Only Son (1936) directed by Yasujiro Ozu
Viewed on July 9, 2019
Synopsis:
Tsune is a widow who works in a silk factory. Her only child is Ryosuke. He is a good student whose teacher has encouraged him to continue on to middle school. He tell his mother that he knows she can't afford the tuition. His teacher comes by to congratulate Tsune on her decision to send him to school. An education is the only way to get ahead. He himself is leaving for Tokyo to pursue bigger opportunities.
When he leaves, she is angry at Ryosuke for lying to the teacher, but overnight, she has a change of heart. She tells him that she has figure out a way to send him to school.
13 years later, we see Ryosuke still working in the factory. She reveals that she is taking a trip to Tokyo to visit her son, whom she has not seen in many years.
When she arrives, she finds out that her son is living in a cheap apartment. He is not working in the government job that she thought he had; instead, he is working as night-school teacher, making little money. In addition, he hasn't told her that he is married, and that he has a baby. He shows his mother around Tokyo, borrowing money from a coworker and his boss in order to do so. They also go to visit his schoolteacher who, far from making a big success, is selling pork chops to eke out a living to support his wife and children.
Tsune has a confrontation with Ryosuke. He tell her that his education has been a waste, an that it is impossible to do better. Tsune is unwilling to let him quit on himself. She reveals to him that she sent him to school by selling her house and land. She has been living in a factory tenement. She doesn't mind as long as he makes something of himself. Sugiko, Ryosuke's wife, cries as she listens to them fight.
The next day, Sugiko suggests that Ryosuke take his mother out. She has sold her kimono, so he can have the money. But then, the neighbor's daughter is injured. They all rush to the hospital. While the child will be okay, her mother doesn't have the money to pay the doctor. Ryosuke gives her the money. His mother watches this act of charity. That night, she tells him that she is proud of him. The next day, he leaves to return home.
Ryosuke tells his wife that he has decided to go back to school to get certified to teach high school.
Back home, Tsune smiles as she tells her coworkers about how impressive Tokyo is. But when goes outside by herself, she does not appear to be at all happy.
Commentary:
This is Ozu's first sound film. I saw it having just seen two late silent films: A Mother Should be Loved, and An Inn in Tokyo. (I use a random number generator to pick which film I will watch from a list of 1800 film I want to see, so seeing three Ozus in a row is coincidence - or fate.)
As with many of his films, this film deals with the themes of disappointment and concealment. Both the mother and the son hide truths from each other. The mother has hidden from her son for 13 years that she sold her house to pay for him to go to school. He has hidden from her his marriage and the birth of her grandchild. Cannily, the revelations are hidden from the audience too. We learn of these events only when they do. We also learn of the disappointing fate of the schoolteacher only when they visit. And Sugiko is constantly worried whether her mother-in-law approves of her.
Ozu employ his usual signature cutaway shots to objects and decor, but he also uses sound expertly in his first sound film. In the son's apartment, there is a constant repetitive background sound, possibly a loom. (The noise is a reason the apartment is so cheap.) In the climactic confrontation between the mother and son, Ozu cuts away to a shot of an empty room. He holds on this shot for an astonishing 58 seconds. This forces the viewer to listen. The sound of the loom is missing at first. Instead, we hear the sobbing of Sugiko. Only gradually is the usual repetitive sound returned to the soundtrack.
The ending of the film upends expectations. At first, the viewers are led to expect that the mother is simply happy that her son has grown up to be a good man, even if he isn't a financial success. But her feelings revealed at the end appear to be more ambiguous. She puts on a brave face for others, but by herself, she is worried. Was her sacrifice worth it?
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