In many of his most successful films, Naruse depicted common people, living their lives. With Repast the director set his characters to the task of navigating their way amidst a pungent atmosphere of fading love. Set shortly after World War II, Repast is about a struggling marriage between salaryman Hatsunosuke (Ken Uehara) and his wife Michiyo (Setsuko Hara). It focuses on the emotional crisis of the bored housewife. The tedium of her domestic life – consumed by repetitive tasks such as cooking and cleaning – is brought into focus by a visit from Hatsunosuke’s niece, Satoko (Yukiko Shimazaki). Satoko’s arrival, and the amount of attention Hatsunosuke devotes to her charms, leads to further unhappiness for Michiyo, who is forced to confront her future. In the hands of master director Naruse, this adaptation of an unfinished novel by Fumiko Hayashi offers a fascinating exploration of married life, from the habitual routine of everyday existence to the hope for a better tomorrow that may or may not keep such relationships alive. Eureka VideoRead More »
Mikio Naruse
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Mikio Naruse – Meshi AKA Repast (1951)
1951-1960ArthouseDramaJapanMikio Naruse -
Mikio Naruse – Sakasu gonin-gumi aka Five Men in the Circus (1935)
1931-1940DramaJapanMikio NaruseFive poor musicians make up the worst traveling brass band in Japan. For a few days they hook up with an awful circus whose male performers are on strike.Read More »
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Mikio Naruse – Yogoto no yume AKA Every-Night Dreams (1933)
Drama1931-1940JapanMikio NaruseSilentIn the formally ravishing Every-Night Dreams, set in the dockside neighborhoods of Tokyo, a single mother works tirelessly as a Ginza bar hostess to ensure a better life for her young son—until her long-lost husband returns.Read More »
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Mikio Naruse – Kagirinaki hodô AKA Street Without End (1934)
1931-1940DramaJapanMikio NaruseSilentMikio Naruse’s final silent film is a gloriously rich portrait of a waitress, Sugiko, whose life, despite a host of male admirers and even some intrigued movie talent scouts, ends up taking a suffocatingly domestic turn after a wealthy businessman accidentally hits her with his car. Featuring vividly drawn characters and bold political commentary, Street Without End is the grandly entertaining silent melodrama with which Naruse arrived at the brink of the sound era.Read More »
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Mikio Naruse – Arakure aka Untamed (1957)
Mikio Naruse1951-1960AsianDramaJapanA woman marries, gives birth to a stillborn child, and divorces, falls in love with a hotel-keeper, only to find herself subordinated to his drive for success, takes up with a tailor who cannot console himself with her strong personality.Read More »
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Mikio Naruse – Hourou-ki aka Her Lonely Lane (1962)
Mikio Naruse1961-1970AsianDramaJapanA dramatized biography of Fumiko Hayashi, the noted Japanese writer. Born to improverished parents Fumiko does all she can to earn money enough to support herself. Along the way she gets invovled with various men, good and bad.Read More »
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Mikio Naruse – Onna no za AKA A Woman’s Place (1962)
Mikio Naruse1961-1970ClassicsDramaJapanSynopsis:
A Women’s Place follows the daily lives of the Ishikawa family who own a general goods store in Tokyo. The film’s opening sees the Ishikawa children rush to the bedside of their father after hearing that he collapsed. As all is well, they go on with their hurried lives. A mystery son later appears out of nowhere to upend the family order and stability.Read More » -
Yûzô Kawashima & Mikio Naruse – Yoru no nagare AKA Evening Stream (1960)
Mikio Naruse1951-1960ArthouseDramaJapanYûzô KawashimaA woman and her daughter are in love with the same man, a chef at the restaurant that the mother manages. He is slightly crippled from frostbite in his years in Siberian labor camps and considers himself “already dead.”Read More »
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Mikio Naruse – Maihime AKA Dancing Girl (1951)
Drama1951-1960JapanMikio NaruseMariko Okada (in her film debut) plays a young ballerina prodigy whose parents seem to be trapped in a loveless marriage. The mother has been seeing a family friend for 20 years, but it’s obvious that they feel more than just friendship for each other, causing suspicion and unease with her son. The father throws himself into work, until one day, it all boils over… naruse-style.Read More »