Monday, December 24, 2007

Ozu's Tokyo Twilight: Akiko's Dilemma


Ozu takes some time and gave the viewer some options before laying out who is the primary protagonist and conflict in his 1957 film Tokyo Twilight. We first see banker Sujiyama at a bar reconnecting with an old proprietress he once knew. Through conversation we hear about drinking exploits of Professor Numata, of whom Sujiyama asks follows up questions. Later it turns out that Numata is his son-in-law who his daughter and and grandaughter are now staying with him as refuge from a troubled marraige. This does not turn out to the the central component of this drama.

The viewer wonders if the plot will involve the somewhat suspicious and comic activities of an Sujiyama's sister who seems good at getting cash from her brother and is promoting to get his daughter Akiko, who we have seen briefly. She also mentions that Akiko has come to her for a 5k yen loan a few days back.

Although it doesn't come out immediately and directly, Akiko turns out to be at the central component of Tokyo Twilight. She is the classic girl from the good side of the tracks in trouble, who never got the love of a mother. Akiko and her woes becomes the hub of all of other aspects of this tale of the Sujiyama family and its disconnected love and affections. Characters in this film note cold weather and the winter throughout. It is clear that what they seek most is love.

As I explore the titles in the Late Ozu Criterion/Eclipse Collection, I am impressed by a shot he uses for major impact. His female figures sitting and hunching forward shown from the rear or at 3/4 generally at a key dramatic point in the story. It gives the impact of still or painting and a kind of key punctuation.

Tokyo Twilight also gives us some glimpses into the seedier side of the city, made even more so in contrast by the presence of Akiko, who is not a part of it. There are a couple of times where the usually well chosen and balanced choices of the soundtrack get overwhelmed by a clattering and now outdated musical selection that needed to be mixed away, but it would take a lot more artifice and miscue for Ozu to loose the power of what he does best as a poet on the psychology of the human condition.
posted by well-executed buffet at 3:33 PM
Comments: Post a Comment