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I Was Born, But... (1932, Jp.) (aka
Otona no miru ehon - Umarete wa mita keredo)
In director Yasujiro Ozu's silent film classic - a
poignant dramatic comedy about childhood perspectives (about class
roles and social hierarchy), set in suburban Tokyo, Japan in the
early 1930s:
- a tale about a lower middle-class Japanese family,
led by office manager-clerk husband Kennesuke Yoshi (Tatsuo Saito)
and housewife Haha (Mitsuko Yoshikawa), with two young school-aged
sons: the older one Ryoichi (Hideo Sugawara) and Keiji (Tomio Aoki)
who were often bullied by other neighborhood boys in their new
surroundings, but then overcame and became the top alpha-males
among their fellow classmates
- the pivotal scene of the two sons at the home of their
father's wealthy industrialist boss Juuyaku or "Iwasaki" (Takeshi
Sakamoto) where in his mansion, they were invited to view the projection
of an amateur movie reel depicting their father as foolish, when
he was debased and demeaned at work, made clownish funny faces and
tried to amuse his boss; everyone in the audience - except the boys
- laughed
- in reaction to the film, the boys lost confidence
in their father and stubbornly went on a brief hunger strike (refusing
to eat their noodles in protest); they felt that their subservient
father shouldn't be kowtowing and always pleasing his boss because
of his lowly social and financial status, and that society's hierarchy
should be based rather on ability, strength and toughness
- Yoshi felt ashamed and resigned to his limited working-man's
life - and was tempted to begin drinking; the film's most dramatic
image was of the despairing father, who grabbed a liquor bottle and
leaned against a doorframe near his wife - contemplating his lowly
despair ("I give up. I need a drink...Will they lead the same
sorry lives we have?"), but then wishing for and affirming personal
dignity for them as they slept: "Don't become miserable apple-polishers
like me, boys"
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Despairing Father with Liquor Bottle: "I
need a drink"
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Youths Eating Riceballs with Father
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- in the conclusion the next morning, the youths ate
rice balls for breakfast shared with their father; as they walked
together, the schoolboys even encouraged their father to acknowledge
his boss, waiting at his chauffeured car at a train crossing: "You
better go say good morning to him, Dad" - their father accepted
a ride to work
- the two boys had come to accept injustices in the
world and realize that their father's place in the regimented social
strata was not enjoyable but understandable, and that his behavior
(of playing up to the boss who was ranked higher) was justified because
it furthered their own lives (he had earlier argued why he worked
for the boss: "If he didn't pay me, you couldn't go to school.
You couldn't eat"); they had gained new respect for him
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Two Sons: Ryoichi and Keiji
Amateur Movie That Made Fun of the Boys' Father, and Embarrassed
the Two Boys
Boys' Newfound Respect for Father
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