Waves of the Ocean: Gender and Generation in Ozu’s Late Spring

[Monica Munguia]

The scenes in the movie progressed to show the characters’ inner struggles.  It brought up persistent cultural gender views that were similar in my culture as I grew up and are still present today in families.  I internalized the emotions of both the father and Noriko.  They both wanted to break traditions, but knew they both had to comply to make each other happy and prosper in their roles.  I wanted to seek solutions for both to be liberated as I often did in my own life growing up.  Gender cultural views were then changed with Noriko’s friend.  The friend relied on herself; yet, she still could not decipher which was better a traditional marriage or the marriage she had.  Yet, even till this day personally I am torn between the traditional woman expectations imposed and often unthinkably enforce with newer generations.  Yet, I also question the traditional gender expectations brought in from home in my students.