Shichao Li
Japanese Film Study
Professor Matthew Mizenko
September 13 2015
This frame contains for characters, two sons of Mr. Yoshii, who plays the role of father in the film, Taro, the son of the boss Iwasaki and another boy who plays with them. The two brothers are almost doing the same kind of action and wearing the same kind of hats, sweaters, shorts, and pants. For those who has not seen the film, they can easily tell that the two boys have some kind of relationship, such as brothers or best friends. The only thing these two boys differ from each other is the color they have on their clothes. The older brother has white hat and white sweater, instead, the younger brother has brown hat and sweater. It indicates that the older brother is more open, he can easily get along with anyone else but the younger brother is more tentative. Throughout the film, this opinion is actually proven. The frame cuts the two brothers head off, instead, Taro has his whole body shown to the audience. The director may want to indicate that Taro actually has more power than the two brothers because Taro's father is the boss of the two brothers' father. Compare to the two brothers, Taro has a better outwear and hat. Instead of wearing shorts and slippers, Taro wears pants and shoes to indicate that he is from a higher class than the two brothers. The black color he wears refers that he is a more calm person than the two brothers. The shadow on the wall is from Taro. I am not sure what that means but I guess the director wants to say that Taro is a more real "person" than the rest of the characters in the frame. The boy lies on the ground is just a symbol of showing the "power" the two brothers have among all the children.
We have seen a lot this action the two brothers do throughout the whole film. Among all the children, only the most powerful can do the action to others. No matter what, the other boy has to lie on the ground. Therefore, the two brothers think they are more powerful than others. Later in the film, the two brothers argue with their father because they think their father is not a such important person when they see their father shows respect to Iwasaki. However, the Taro has to listen to them and the two brothers just do not understand why their father has to show such respect to Iwasaki. The "power" two brothers has among all the children gives them confidence to challenge their father's authority.
