I Was Born, But...
A closer analysis of a still shot
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| The parents gazing over the sleeping children |
For my first blossay, I'd like to take a closer look at one of the still images from 'I Was Born, But..' that was taken towards the end. In this shot, the parents are looking over the two kids as they sleep. Previously, before this still was captured, there was a large scuffle that had occurred between the family over the social status of the father and children. As we'd discussed in class, one of the main concepts of the film was the parallel drawn between the life of the children being subservient to the bullies and the father being subservient to the boss. After the children found out about the father's actual status compared to their friends' fathers as well as watched the embarrassing footage that was shown at the gathering, they lost what little respect they had for him. After coming home and shunning the gift the father had brought home for them, the two proceeded to throw a temper tantrum and insult their father. Having had enough, the father finally lashed out and punished the boys severely, repeatedly spanking the older one. After the punishment was finished, the boys ran off to bed, and the mother followed them in some time afterwards when they were finally asleep. The screenshot I chose shows when the father finally entered the room after the mother had been in there for a few moments and sits down next to her to consider their kids and family situation for a moment.
I had an excruciatingly hard time deciding which scene to present in my blossay before finally settling on this one. As I gushed about previously in my pro-boards responses, I can't seem to get my mind off the beauty of the walking-home-from-the-movies-power-line scene. However, I felt that I would have a little more to talk about in this shot. What I loved most about this shot was the level of intimacy it provided without much of anything even happening. Reflecting traditional Japanese culture, the mother and father shared no physical affection save for sitting close to each other, however, it seemed so intimate because this is the closest the two come through the duration of the film. They come together, both exasperated over what had just occurred, and take a moment to regroup and figure out the situation in a more calm fashion. What added to the intimate feeling was the close up, low to the floor camera shot that
just include the children in the foreground. One feels as if they're sitting in on this intimate moment looking at the family in its entirety. They are all together in the same room very close as if to say that fights cannot tear them apart and they can come together and get through hard times even though things are tense and uncertain. Their expressions are also beautiful--the scene shows the hardships of being a parent, and their faces show the maturity of a couple who have learned and come to terms with the fact that there are things in life you cannot control, and dealing with children is one of them.
I think this scene did a really great job of very smoothly reigning in the chaos that had just occurred as well as create a turning point for the film to move in a more resolved direction. It also gives a sense of reconciliation between the entire family as whole, allowing the story to continue moving forward with a certain degree of accepted tension that left the audience waiting for the boys to come to terms with the situation just as the parents had. As the film progressed we find that the boys do eventually reconcile with the situation to a degree, leaving a profound sense of satisfaction as the potential to succeed is realized by the boys and the story finds a kind of resolution within the tough times.
