"I Was Born, But..." by Ozu: writing about the image

The image is a long shot of a man in a Western-style suit, shoes and a hat. He is so thin that the suit is a little bigger for him in terms of its thickness. He is fastening a button on the suit, looking at a van starting to move ahead. His face looks serious as if there is/are something important on the van (it looks rather old and junk). In fact, the van seems to be carrying many stuff such as block-like things, a thing that looks like iron-made legs of a chair, and so on. An spare tire is put at the side. Above the spare tire something is attached with Japanese kanji letters. The front part of the van is cut out by the frame, and the man is at the center of the screen. Behind him is a long, barren pathway that shows the fact that this entire place is a suburb. Its nothingness is emphasized by two elements: 1) the aspect of ratio in which you cannot recognize the end of the path, and 2) the composition of the tall utility poles in two rows versus the low and bare ground. The polls, at the same time, seem to be an indication that this suburb is just about to experience the industrial development.

This shot is the very beginning part of this film. It is a significant scene in that what are described here (western-style man, suburb, etc.) is going to be the foundation of this story. How does this story unfold in this undeveloped rural area? What role does this serious-looking man take? These questions occur to you, and you are drawn into the film. Any good film draw you into it at the first couple of minute. If you find yourself being so, there lies the significance of this scene.