This is the third Naruse film I've seen and while I don't think its quite as good as Sound of the Mountain, it confirms that he ranks up with the very top league of directors.
The wonderful thing about this film is the tone - Naruse keeps it perfectly balanced between sadness and comedy - lightness and drama. The movie is never melodramatic or hilariously funny - just like real life, there is a fine balance between the joy at the wonders of the world and despair at its banalities.
This must rank as one of the truest, most moving portrayals in film of a marriage. It centers on a crucial time in the young marriage of Michiyo and Hatsu, married five years in post war Japan, struggling to make a life in a dull, poverty stricken suburb of Osaka. Michiyo is desperately bored and misses her hometown of Tokyo, and quietly furious at her husband at how he takes her for granted. He is struggling at work, his integrity holding him back from making the money his sharper colleagues are apparently raking in from the stock market. Things come to a head when his vivacious but impulsive niece Satoko arrives on the doorstep unexpectedly, having run away from home. He lavishes her with attention to the quiet anger of his wife who resents every second he spends with Satoko.
Michiyo runs away to Tokyo to stay with her mother. In a post war Japan, with so many male war dead, Hatsu (to his bemusement) is quickly the center of attention for every female in the area, single or not. Its quickly apparent that he isn't the deadbeat his wife thinks he is - her perfectionism has prevented her from seeing his qualities, just as his problems at work has prevented him from understanding her unhappiness.
Some of those commenting here imply that the ending is something of a feminist nightmare - she returns to him, saying that her happiness as a woman is to be by his side. I think this is a misunderstanding of the ending and the theme of the movie. The point, i believe, is that she focused on her husband as the reason for her unhappiness while the real reason for it was their situation - their poverty and lack of opportunities in life. They are both victims of a struggling society - there are numerous little vignettes showing us the unemployment and exploitation of ordinary people at the time. Her willingness to go back to him is a reflection of her realization that they are both in it together, for better or worse. Its not a perfect route to happiness, but given their circumstances its the best they can get. For her to say that to stand by his side is the 'happiness of a woman' is not the statement of a submissive woman - just an acceptance of life as it is for those who are not born with money and good luck.
This really is a great movie, subtle and intelligent. Its also a fascinating contemporary insight into post war Japan and the struggle of ordinary people there to rebuild their lives. And it features a great performance from Setsuko Hara as the wife, with a very able supporting cast (most of the actors will be very familiar to anyone who has seen other Naruse or Ozu movies). Strongly recommended.
As a final point, I saw this on the Masters of Cinema DVD. The 'extras' feature is concise and very informative (although there are a few minor errors in the commentary). Its certainly superior to the BFI edition of Japanese movies from this period.
The wonderful thing about this film is the tone - Naruse keeps it perfectly balanced between sadness and comedy - lightness and drama. The movie is never melodramatic or hilariously funny - just like real life, there is a fine balance between the joy at the wonders of the world and despair at its banalities.
This must rank as one of the truest, most moving portrayals in film of a marriage. It centers on a crucial time in the young marriage of Michiyo and Hatsu, married five years in post war Japan, struggling to make a life in a dull, poverty stricken suburb of Osaka. Michiyo is desperately bored and misses her hometown of Tokyo, and quietly furious at her husband at how he takes her for granted. He is struggling at work, his integrity holding him back from making the money his sharper colleagues are apparently raking in from the stock market. Things come to a head when his vivacious but impulsive niece Satoko arrives on the doorstep unexpectedly, having run away from home. He lavishes her with attention to the quiet anger of his wife who resents every second he spends with Satoko.
Michiyo runs away to Tokyo to stay with her mother. In a post war Japan, with so many male war dead, Hatsu (to his bemusement) is quickly the center of attention for every female in the area, single or not. Its quickly apparent that he isn't the deadbeat his wife thinks he is - her perfectionism has prevented her from seeing his qualities, just as his problems at work has prevented him from understanding her unhappiness.
Some of those commenting here imply that the ending is something of a feminist nightmare - she returns to him, saying that her happiness as a woman is to be by his side. I think this is a misunderstanding of the ending and the theme of the movie. The point, i believe, is that she focused on her husband as the reason for her unhappiness while the real reason for it was their situation - their poverty and lack of opportunities in life. They are both victims of a struggling society - there are numerous little vignettes showing us the unemployment and exploitation of ordinary people at the time. Her willingness to go back to him is a reflection of her realization that they are both in it together, for better or worse. Its not a perfect route to happiness, but given their circumstances its the best they can get. For her to say that to stand by his side is the 'happiness of a woman' is not the statement of a submissive woman - just an acceptance of life as it is for those who are not born with money and good luck.
This really is a great movie, subtle and intelligent. Its also a fascinating contemporary insight into post war Japan and the struggle of ordinary people there to rebuild their lives. And it features a great performance from Setsuko Hara as the wife, with a very able supporting cast (most of the actors will be very familiar to anyone who has seen other Naruse or Ozu movies). Strongly recommended.
As a final point, I saw this on the Masters of Cinema DVD. The 'extras' feature is concise and very informative (although there are a few minor errors in the commentary). Its certainly superior to the BFI edition of Japanese movies from this period.