我出生了，但……

AlthoughI Was Born, But…(Yasujiro Ozu, 1932) was one of the early works by Ozu, he demonstrates an exceptional aptitude on embodying the callous power dynamics within Japanese working-class structure through the lens of two kids’ growing dismay and perplexity. The film, through a parallel narrative of the father Yoshii (Tatsuo Saito) in work and his children Ryoichi (Hideo Sugawara) and Keiji (Tomio Aoki) in school, presents a keen comparison of the power dynamics of these characters when dealing with convoluted interpersonal relationships.

I Was Born, But…revolves around the notion of power. For salarymen like Yoshii, all the powers concentrate on the hands of the Iwasaki (Takeshi Sakamoto), the big executive in charge of the firm. In order to receive a good salary, and afford a better life for the family, Yoshii racks his mind to hobnob with his boss. Regardless of the physical locations, he would approach Iwasaki in an adulatory manner whenever he has a chance, to not only physically, but mentally live near the boss. Knowing Iwasaki’s passion for film, Yoshii even participates in Iwasaki’s filming of daily vignettes to cater for his interest, which will later trigger a galling incidence, provoking a series of family dramas. While Ozu revealed a bleak image of underlying hierarchies in the adult world and the hypocritical social fabric embedded in the system, he presented a rather humorous and frisky plot via the scope of the neighborhood children, paralleling with the salaryman script. Unlike the adult world brimming with intrigues and office politics, for children, the advent of power lies in physical strength. New to the neighborhood, Ryoichi and Keiji struggle to blend in the new environment, especially when they are intimidated by school bullies, led by a bigger kid (Zentaro Iijima). Luckily, they are wise enough to exploit the physical power of the older delivery boy (Shoichi Kofujita), and eventually to supersede the bigger kid as the most dominant figures in the neighborhood. Even Taro (Katô), Iwasaki’s son, has to pay deference to the boys’ incantation. (a game often played among the children) In the sequence in which the kids witness Yoshii accompanying Iwasaki back home, we finally see these two storylines interweave. Ashamed of the fact that Taro’s father is their father’s boss, Ryoichi and Keiji once again cast the incantation on Toro, hoping to regain at least part of their supremacy. However, Yoshii intervenes and halts the game forthwith, helping Taro gets up from the ground as if he is treating his boss at work at the same time reproaching his sons’ impropriety. Of course, the twins would not understand why their father, an undisputed hero figure in their opinion, would treat Taro in such an obsequious manner. Nevertheless, Father’s reprimand is a blow to the brothers’ imaginary fantasy, offering them a snippet of the how things should work in the reality. The scene puts the two independent worlds under the same frame, revealing adult society’s boot-licking conducts as oppose to children’s ingenuous power ideology and imparting them an imperative lesson about the rigid stratification of the society for the first time.

Ozu's deft camera movements usage are inalienable from narrative functions achieved inI Was Born, But.Nonetheless, the most salient visual style ought to be his utilization of camera movements as a medium to navigate between the two major storylines. Reminiscent of Fritz Lang’s employment of sound as a cue to cut between different spaces inM, (Fritz Lang, 1931), Ozu harnessed the tracking of the camera to establish a relationship between two shots regardless of the discontinuous spaces. In the playground/office scene, a sequence of students marching down the playground is cut to the father’s office smoothly as the camera tracks from left to right. The playful camera movement proffers a sense of verisimilitude as audiences mentally follow the camera motion, navigating between the two settings despite the lack of temporal unity. The juxtaposition of irrelevant sequences also puts two drastically different worlds (children and adults) in compare and contrast with each other, soliciting viewers’ examination of the ulterior motifs behind the image. On the playground, the bigger kid got excoriated by the teacher for not following instructions like other students do. In a cut to the next sequence, the camera, however, now tracking from left to right, capturing an associate who meant to concentrate on work, and shifts right forthwith as he could not resist the soporific working environment and began to yawn like anyone else. These nuances in each character’s synchronous motions allude to the social conformity which everyone ought to obey, epitomizing the foreboding transition from carefree children to institutionalized worker for each person living in the society surrounded by sheer competition.

Although taking immense amounts of inspiration from classical Hollywood comedy, Ozu repeatedly violated the Hollywood continuity editing principle. Instead filming the dialogue scene in the traditional over-the-shoulder method, Ozu framed his dialogue scene more often in a 360-degree style, constantly switching camera positions, proffering a discordant but holistic scene. In the film’s final scene, after understanding the father’s identity and accepting the reality of the life, the two brothers admitted Taro’s father is indeed better. After reconciliation, a straight-on medium long shot shows that the brothers again casting incantation on Taro. In the next shot, however, the camera has already moved behind Ryoichi’s feet, as we observe Taro’s “death” on the ground. At the moment that Ryoichi and Keiji cast the second “revival” incantation in the subsequent shot, the camera has completely switched to the opposite point of view that the initial shot is at, revealing not only the twin brothers but also the train rail barrier.

People would often associate discontinuity film production such as 360-degree system, uncanny camera positions, and playful editing with a sense of distance and detachment because of the diminishing effect on the temporal unity across the narrative. But for Ozu, the combination of these techniques results the opposite, presenting a self-aware and emotionally-intense everyday scenario which builds upon a direct conversation with the audience. The usage of these cinematic techniques continues to be an inextricable part of Ozu’s directing language through his entire film career, embodying his philosophy of straddling the realm of subjectivity and objectivity, and offering contemplative cinemas to viewers not only to realize the sadness and melancholy about the reality of life but to retrospect their own experiences.

小孩子好不容易在异乡站稳了脚跟，哪怕就算现在“征服”了老板的儿子，但是发现最后还是和父亲的地位息息相关，未来还是要给老板的儿子打工。

有些东西真的是千古不变的吧。

小孩问：

爸妈其实没有解答，只能拥有美好的期待，而美好的期待这种东西，基本都没什么用：

父亲的话

母亲的话

到了最后，还是变成轮回，孩子的孩子也会这样问吧：

《我出生了，但......》 1932年 小津安二郎 日本「电影旬报」选为年度最佳电影。 小津早期的一部默片。今天在微信读书里找来一本小津的自传，名为《豆腐匠的哲学》，其中有讲到这部极具幽默意味的默片，Mark了一年多终于有机会找出来看看。看完有两个非常意外的发现，一是原来小津以前拍的电影是如此幽默，二是小津并不是一开始就拍属于他个人风格的低机位，但是可以说是他往后有声片的雏形。 在这部默片中也处处显示出小津的电影美学，两个小兄弟总是异乎寻常的做同样的动作，是如此自然的一致，一来让观众感到幽默二来也形成了小津影片标志性的动作符号，以此区别于其他。 另外这部默片造型感也极强，精准的构图与人物的集体性动作总是引人发笑，连双手捂着眼睛哭也要做到极致。 通过孩童的视角呈现大人的复杂世界，可谓是小题材大主题。不得不说片中的孩子的表演太生动了，一点儿也不让人出戏，当然这与导演和摄影师极强的捕捉能力是有极大关系的，营造出了太多精彩的画面，即使是默片，也毫无影响继续观看的欲望。 这是一部关于成长的电影，残酷且沉重的话题，只是导演用幽默的方式呈现出来，就像这片名，"我出生了，但......"，每个人的阶级出身不能由自己决定，但是两个小兄弟通过自己的努力使得在一群孩子里成了孩子王，可是父亲面对现实生活只好得像太郎的父亲点头哈腰以比来养家糊口。 或许两兄弟依然不明白为什么父亲不能成为一个大人物？ 不能反过来给太郎的父亲发薪水？ 我相信时间和成长会给他们答案，但是要改变现状可不是做"孩子王"这么容易的一件事情。

现在被大部分人公认的第一部电影是卢米埃尔兄弟的《工厂大门》，诞生于1895年的法国。电影技术远跨重洋来到了亚洲，亚洲的第一部电影便诞生于日本。1898年日本拍摄了头两部电影，一部叫做《地藏精》，一部叫做《死人复活》，远远早于亚洲其他国家。用作对照，中国的第一部电影《定军山》诞生于1905年，而韩国的第一部电影或可称为写真连锁剧《义理的仇讨》在1919年才拍摄出来。

（插一句：感觉这些第一部电影都满反应民族性格的。）

不单首部电影诞生的时间早，日本电影的繁荣期也比其他国家来得早很多。20世纪30年代，便诞生了第一批电影巨匠。而邻国韩国到60年代才诞生第一批电影大师，足足晚了三十年之久。

这当然跟政治局势脱不了干系，日本当年到处搞侵略，搞得别的国家不能好好拍电影，自己却能在家里好好拍电影。这个略过不提。

20世纪30年代这个黄金时代涌现了小津安二郎、沟口健二等电影大师，他们的电影不单影响了日本电影，甚至影响了世界电影。不得不提的小津安二郎更是世界各地知名导演、影评人的心头好，可以说，没有人不爱小津。

这时候的小津刚刚出道，二三十岁，意气风发，极有年轻人的活泼、顽皮。1903年出生的1923年他进入了松竹电影制片厂，1927年便得到机会拍摄第一部电影《忏悔之刃》，当时他才24岁。

据小津自己回忆说，他当时在做大久保导演的助理导演，在收工后的晚餐时间，大家在排队等咖喱饭，眼看就到他了，大久保导演却进来，小津大喊：“为什么不给我？到我的顺序了。”打饭的人说：“要先给导演。”小津大喊：“快点上饭，按顺序！”这话传到当时的松竹厂长耳朵里，厂长觉得他这个人蛮有意思，便决定给他部电影拍拍。

这种幸运，鲜少人有。

当然，小津的成就也并未辜负这种幸运。

小津的早期电影都是默片，直到1936年，小津才拍摄自己的第一部有声电影《独生子》，而这已经是他的39部电影了。

轻松、幽默、自在，这是小津的早期风格。他的1932年电影《我出生了，但……》无疑是他默片时期的代表作。这部电影是一个儿童喜剧，吉井家的两个孩子（一对兄弟）随父母搬家到郊外，认识了一些新的朋友，之后发生的故事。

充满了童真童趣的同时，在儿童世界与成人世界交汇时，现实的无奈也反映在其中。两个孩子搬到新家后，被欺生的其他孩子欺负，两个孩子绞尽脑汁，赢得了孩子们的战斗，说一不二。

却发现，被他们制服的孩子之一是父亲上司岩崎的孩子，而父亲每次见到岩崎总是点头哈腰，卑躬屈膝，甚至作为丑角，被人取笑。

由此诞生了孩子和父亲之间的冲突，在大吵之后，两个孩子接受了父亲的无奈与现实世界。虽然略带沉重，但结尾依然充满了童真，孩子在看到了父亲和其上司去上班之后，依然使出原来的花招让那个孩子乖乖听话。又形成了儿童世界与成人世界的分离。

不管成人世界如何被金钱与地位左右，但在孩子的世界里，两个孩子伸出两个手指，有钱人的孩子也必须装死立刻倒在地上。

拍摄这部电影的小津29岁，也充满了顽皮劲儿。他自己聊到这个时期的电影的时候，也说，和编剧伏见晁（本片编剧，和小津合作了很多部电影）当时在一起吃饭、喝茶，聊天聊到天亮基本上就能编出一个故事。可以想见，整个创作过程是多么有趣，也难怪会想出这么多可爱、搞笑的情节。

这些喜剧元素虽然基于日本而完成，但同时也能看出小津受到了美国电影很大的影响。片中的喜剧元素，及整片的结构，似乎都受到了刘别谦的影响。在他的另一部默片《年轻的日子》中，这一影响更加明显。两个男大学生为一个女生明争暗斗，互相拆台，搞得笑料百出，最后女生却跟别人去相亲，两个男生知晓真相，和好如初。这种故事是非常好莱坞的。

虽然这个时候还没有完全形成后来为人称道的“小津风格”，但可以看出小津已经有意识地将拍摄主题转向家庭内部。那些细腻而温柔的，家人之间的摩擦，将越来越成为小津电影中的主题。

参考书目：

小津安二郎《我是开豆腐店的，我只做豆腐》

四方田犬彦《日本电影110年》