A Tribute to Mikio Naruse at the Cinematheque

During November, we will screen selected films by master director Mikio Naruse: When a Woman Ascends the Stairs, Flowing, Sound of the Mountain, Scattered Clouds, and more. The opening film will be accompanied by an introduction by members of the Off Screen journal, whose contributors conceived the program in its entirety.

Mikio Naruse (1905–1969), one of the prominent figures of the “Golden Age of Japanese Cinema” in the 1950s and 1960s, was a filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer who directed 89 films between 1930 and 1967. Although Naruse’s work is less familiar in the 21st century than that of his contemporaries Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi, and Yasujirō Ozu, his films remain unique in the central place they give to female characters.

Although Naruse himself and his audience would not have defined themselves as “feminists,” these films tend to challenge the rigid gender norms of Japanese society. Naruse’s cinema focuses primarily on dramas of the middle and lower classes, known as shōmin-geki, and expresses Naruse’s pessimistic view of life and Japanese society. Naruse was a very serious, quiet, and reserved man. Even people who worked with him frequently claimed that they knew nothing about his personal life. Kurosawa described him as a self-confident person who wanted to do everything alone. Hideko Takamine described him as a purely technical director who was indifferent on set. She said she never heard him comment on or praise anything, even though she worked with him on nearly 20 films. Actor Tatsuya Nakadai said that Naruse would sometimes film each of his actors separately and only later edit the footage to look like a conversation between two people—a highly unusual working method. Kurosawa, who was his assistant director early in his career, described Naruse’s melodramas as “a mighty river with a calm surface and a turbulent current in its depths.”

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs

Naruse’s masterpiece, considered by many critics to be his finest film. The story of “Mama,” actually Keiko, a 30-year-old bar hostess who is already widowed and faces a choice: marry for financial security or acquire a bar of her own. Her mother and brother demand money from her, customers demand her attention, and she is constantly in debt. The film examines the life of a bar hostess, as well as the way in which the system traps—and sometimes even kills—those who work within it. Before the screening on 9/11, there will be an introductory lecture by the Off Screen journal.

Sound of the Mountain

The businessman Ogata Shingo works alongside his son Shūichi, who serves as his secretary. The two live together in the suburbs with their respective wives, Yasuko and Kikuko. Shūichi is having an extramarital affair, while his marriage to Kikuko is loveless. Yasuko has devoted her entire life to her family, but Shingo married her only after the death of her elder sister. Kikuko is the source of Shingo’s pride and joy, and the two share a close bond. Fusako, Shingo and Yasuko’s daughter, leaves her husband and arrives at Shingo’s home with her two children. As a result, all the family’s secrets and betrayals are revealed.

Floating Clouds

One of Naruse’s masterpieces. A melodrama about tragic lives, adapted from a novel by Japanese writer Fumiko Hayashi. A love story between Koda Yukiko, a dependent woman, and Tomioka, a distant, cynical, unfaithful, and emotionally reserved man. The film opens in the period after World War II, when Yukiko returns to Tokyo from French Indochina to renew her relationship with Tomioka. He leads a quiet life with his wife and seems to regard the affair he had with Yukiko during the war as nothing more than an insignificant lapse. Although he is initially surprised by her sudden appearance at his doorstep, he agrees to go on a short walk with her—and indeed, a significant portion of the film is devoted to observing the couple as they wander through the city streets and along country roads.

Flowing

Otsuta runs the Tsuta geisha house in Tokyo. Her business is deeply in debt. Her daughter Katsuyo sees no future in her mother’s profession during the final days of the geisha era. But Otsuta does not give up. This film portrays the everyday lives of geishas unrelated to their customer service...

Yearning

After a wartime bomb destroys the family shop and kills her husband, Reiko rebuilds the family grocery store and runs it out of love for what was lost. Many years later, the grocery store faces a threat from a new supermarket that has opened nearby, and her husband’s family plans to turn the small shop into a supermarket—a move that would harm Reiko, who decides to fight for her future.

Scattered Clouds

The love and future plans of a couple are abruptly cut short when the husband is killed in a car accident. The suffering intensifies when the deceased man’s parents disinherit his widow—who had been their daughter-in-law. At the same time, the driver who accidentally caused the man’s death is tormented by profound guilt. Amid this emotional turmoil, the driver and the widow begin to develop feelings for each other. A characteristic melodrama centered on a woman and Mikio Naruse’s final film.

Would you like to enjoy all our new and worthwhile benefits and exclusive events throughout the city?

Download the DigiTel My app and look for the Events and Benefits Lobby >>

Link

Everything is waiting for you in the palm of your hand: plays, performances, concerts, festivals, free tours, benefits at businesses and sporting events, and more!