Analysis of “There Was A Father”, 00:30:00 – 00:35:59

The space of two neighboring rooms with fusuma in between is the most effectively utilized in this section. Here, the son listened to his father’s decision without any utterance of protest, but his despair and disappointment is apparent visually. The next room has been a void up until this point, then the son moves to the room and sits on tatami quietly, his back toward his father. The distance here is only a few meters in reality, but we feel it more distant than it actually is. This “parent-child” conflict is always a recurring theme of Ozu films. But the …

Analysis of “There Was A Father”, 00:24:00 – 00:29:59

Sometimes, we find some illogical coincidence among trivial matters in our daily life. If you see the old lady from the next block with her dog in the morning, it’s a bad omen for the day, for example. But if you see a black cat living the next door before you start the car, you will be okey for the day. Maybe the collage kid in the coffee shop signals the bad weather in the afternoon, or something else. No logical connection. It’s just a stupid coincidence you happened to notice. If you take a statistics for such matters, it’s …

Analysis of “There Was A Father”, 00:18:00 – 00:23:59

Sessho (殺生)  Taking of the Life One of the Five Precepts in Bhuddism is not to take life. This “taking of life” is called “sessho” in Japanese. During the conversation with the priest, Horikawa says “It is worrisome that he likes sessho,” referring to his son going out to catch dragonflies. Not troubled so much, just the remark. The priest replies, “Oh, kids are like that”. Later, at night, the father and the son are talking about the plan of fishing the next day. The priest, while working on the mill, says “Don’t mind me. I already gave them last …