Thursday, April 16, 2009
The Post-War World
Two films we have screened, Bicycle Thieves and Tokyo Story, are set in the years immediately after World War II, in countries defeated by the United States and its allies. What can we learn about the nature of the war from its aftermath? What do these films tell us about the costs of the war? Do we have any clues about the ascent of America and its culture in the post-war world?
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I want to preface this by saying that I know next to nothing about post-WWII Italian and Japanese history or culture.
ReplyDeleteBicycle Thieves and Tokyo Story have contrasting angles on the way WWII has affected society in their respective countries. The Italy portrayed in De Sica's film is a human Italy. Tensions are certainly high, and people are driven by desperation in rough economic times to compassionless acts of theft. Yet family and friendships prevail. You stick by your people; in a climactic scene, the alleged bicycle thief (the epileptic, not Ricci) is protected by his deeply caring family and neighbors; the son and father walk together at the end even after the son sees his father give into temptation; Ricci's friends take time off work to help him search. Life is a struggle; people have a desperation that is established right in the opening scene as men all but climb over one another in hopes of finding a job to provide for their families. But in Bicycle Thieves, it is a struggle that is faced together, with companionship.
Ozu's Tokyo Story points at a different response to the difficulties of post-WWII life. In the film, the Japanese prevail on their individual merits, by dedicating time to their trades. This begins to sever familial bonds. The individual scene that depicts this most obviously is the doctor's cancellation of a family outing upon an important call, and his sons feeling slighted. It happens throughout the film however, especially to the grandparents, who are pushed from relative to relative, none of whom want to spend money on their loved ones whom they haven't seen in ages, none of whom really want to deal with the sudden presence of these visitors when the hectic routines of daily life can't stop for them. The war literally took people away, as it did Noriko's husband. But, in Japan, it also took people away from one another in a figurative sense. Faced with the challenges of the postwar world, each is responsible for his own lot; people have to be if they want to rise above it all. Look at Noriko, who lives alone and seems to have no life other than her job, or the beautician and doctor who refuse to look up from their crafts to spend time with their parents. And so the difficulties of the postwar world lead to individual Japanese drifting into isolation.
To summarize: Based on De Sica's and Ozu's films, the Italians strengthened their bonds with each other in the face of adversity, whereas the Japanese became more individualistic.