The Only Son (“Hitori musuko”)
Directed by Yasujirô Ozu
Adapted by Tadao Ikeda and Masao Arata from a short story by Yasujirô Ozu
1936/Japan
Shôchiku Eiga
First viewing
[box] “Life’s tragedy begins with the bond between parent and child” – beginning text[/box]
This story about a mother’s sacrifice was Ozu’s first sound film. It’s another simple but deep and beautiful offering from a master.
Tsune (Chôko Iida) is a silk factory laborer and widowed mother. Her young son’s teacher thinks he is very bright and should go away to middle school. Tsune at first says she cannot afford this but then decides to do whatever is necessary. She tells the boy not to worry about her but to study hard and become a great man.
Thirteen years later, her son (Shinichi Himori) is 27 and working as a civil servant in Tokyo. Tsune thinks it is time he was married and decides to visit him. She discovers on arrival that he is working as a night school teacher, already has a wife and baby son and is living hand to mouth. The rest of the story deals with the regrets of both mother and son, mother love of many kinds, and a new definition of success. With Ozu regular Chishû Ryû as the boy’s teacher.
I find almost all of Ozu’s films extremely moving and this one was no exception. The relationship between the mother and son is so real it almost hurts. As always, Ozu surrounds his dialogue with long silences that let the viewer reflect on the emotion of the situation. Although there are no fireworks, we learn that a mother’s love never wanes and that pride is not necessarily based on material things.
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