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The Butterfly
This review may contain spoilers
A small neighborhood in Tokyo is turned upside down when two little boys take a vow of silence because they want a television set. Of course, that's not all that's going on with the adult neighbors. Each family unit is facing their own challenges whether retirement is nearing, or a father can't find a job, or when the gossip generated from the have and have nots tears at the fragile fabric of relationships held together by the traditional greeting of "good morning".
The focus of the story is two little boys who visit a neighbor's house to watch sumo wrestling on their TV. The neighbors are deemed unseemly, read different, and the boys are forbidden from visiting them anymore. When the boys hold their ground demanding a television the father tells them to be quiet and they decide to take a vow of silence.
The father is afraid that having a television in the house will breed idiocy by drowning out small talk which is the "lubricant" of society. The boys view small talk as idiocy. And around and round they go. The boys' vow of silence creates ripples of discord in the neighborhood when they neglect the customary "good morning" setting up another wave of gossip.
You can see in the English lessons and television, the creeping American influence and Western pressure on the families. The television is not the only problem, a neighbor who buys a washing machine is judged for spending money on a convenience. The shunned family with the television feels compelled to move. The movie not only displays a generational conflict, but a cultural conflict as well.
The small talk the adults value so dearly where love declarations are made through a banal conversation about the weather, also bury resentments, envy and fears. No one questions drinking as a means of escape, or cruel gossiping.
Good Morning was bolstered by the young actors' sweet performances in their silent war. A spare, gently comedic slice of life film, showcasing a cast of well-developed minor characters dealing with everyday problems and a changing world was quite entertaining.
The focus of the story is two little boys who visit a neighbor's house to watch sumo wrestling on their TV. The neighbors are deemed unseemly, read different, and the boys are forbidden from visiting them anymore. When the boys hold their ground demanding a television the father tells them to be quiet and they decide to take a vow of silence.
The father is afraid that having a television in the house will breed idiocy by drowning out small talk which is the "lubricant" of society. The boys view small talk as idiocy. And around and round they go. The boys' vow of silence creates ripples of discord in the neighborhood when they neglect the customary "good morning" setting up another wave of gossip.
You can see in the English lessons and television, the creeping American influence and Western pressure on the families. The television is not the only problem, a neighbor who buys a washing machine is judged for spending money on a convenience. The shunned family with the television feels compelled to move. The movie not only displays a generational conflict, but a cultural conflict as well.
The small talk the adults value so dearly where love declarations are made through a banal conversation about the weather, also bury resentments, envy and fears. No one questions drinking as a means of escape, or cruel gossiping.
Good Morning was bolstered by the young actors' sweet performances in their silent war. A spare, gently comedic slice of life film, showcasing a cast of well-developed minor characters dealing with everyday problems and a changing world was quite entertaining.
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