When plans to start a new business go awry, a dejected wife finds herself at a crossroads in Mikio Naruse’s martial drama.
Jul 2, 2024 • Subscribe
More like this
Wife (妻, Mikio Naruse, 1953)
An unhappily married woman contemplates independence but struggles to see herself as anything other than a “wife” in Naruse’s bitter marital drama
A Woman’s Place (女の座, Mikio Naruse, 1962)
The young women of post-war Japan struggle to define themselves in a changing society in Mikio Naruse’s uncharacteristically hopeful family drama
The Angry Street (怒りの街, Mikio Naruse, 1950)
A sociopathic student takes revenge on a changing society by seducing wealthy women in Mikio Naruse’s brooding noir.
Sound of the Mountain (山の音, Mikio Naruse, 1954)
A failed patriarch resolves to set his unhappily married daughter-in-free in Mikio Naruse’s post-war marital drama
Repast (めし, Mikio Naruse, 1951)
An unhappily married woman fed up with the drudgery of her existence considers other options but finally concludes there are none in Naruse’s bleak melodrama
Mikio Naruse: Adventures on Harumi Island
I got a pleasant surprise recently when I watched Mikio Naruse’s AUTUMN HAS ALREADY STARTED (1960). At a key point in the narrative, the two child protagonists living…
A Wanderer’s Notebook (放浪記, Mikio Naruse, 1962)
A determined young woman seeks a way out of poverty in Mikio Naruse’s biopic of author Fumiko Hayashi.
Late Chrysanthemums (晩菊, Mikio Naruse, 1954)
Four former geishas struggle to find their place in a changing society in Miko Naruse’s melancholy melodrama.
Untamed (あらくれ, Mikio Naruse, 1957)
A rebellious woman strives for independence in a patriarchal society but nevertheless finds herself hamstrung by feckless men in Naruse’s Taisho-era drama
Mother (おかあさん, Mikio Naruse, 1952)
A teenage girl struggles to understand her self-sacrificing mother in Mikio Naruse’s subversive take on the hahamono
Five Men in a Circus (サーカス五人組, Mikio Naruse, 1935)
A 5-piece jinta brass band ends up performing as ringers at strike-stricken circus in Naruse’s melancholy anti-authoritarian comedy
Hit and Run (ひき逃げ, Mikio Naruse, 1966)
A grief-stricken mother hatches a desperate plan of revenge against the woman who killed her son in Mikio Naruse’s dark psychological drama.
Wife of a Spy (スパイの妻, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2020)
An upperclass housewife finds herself pulled into a deadly game of espionage in Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s dark exploration of the consequences of love
The Approach of Autumn (秋立ちぬ, Mikio Naruse, 1960)
A small boy finds himself trapped between the new society and the old in Mikio Naruse’s often deceptively cheerful childhood drama.
Crossroad (死の十字路, Umetsugu Inoue, 1956)
An adulterous industrialist’s life unravels after he accidentally kills his wife and tries to cover up the crime in Umetsugu Inoue’s gothic noir.
Summer Storm / 夏の嵐 / Natsu no arashi (1956)
Obscure Japanese Film #112 Masahiko Tsugawa and Mie Kitahara Director Ko Nakahira’s first film following his famous ‘sun tribe’ movie Craz...
Pretty Heart (心裏美, Terry Ng Ka-wai, 2022)
An idealistic teacher finds herself questioning her views on education while confronting her traumatic past in Terry Ng Ka-wai’s gentle drama.
Sound in the Mist (霧の音, Hiroshi Shimizu, 1956)
A botanist continues to visit the same mountain lodge each Harvest Moon in search of lost love in a late melodrama from Hiroshi Shimizu
While Yet a Wife / 妻の日の愛のかたみに / Tsuma no hi no ai no katamini (1965)
Obscure Japanese Film #141 Ayako Wakao Chieko (Ayako Wakao) and Kitahara (Eiji Funakoshi) are country schoolteachers who get married and a...
本心
With「本心」, Keiichiro Hirano (平野 啓一郎) has written a big, old-fashioned novel of ideas. It is set in the 2040s in a Japan in which a tenuous daily life…
本心
With「本心」, Keiichiro Hirano (平野 啓一郎) has written a big, old-fashioned novel of ideas. It is set in the 2040s in a Japan in which a tenuous daily life…
Telepathy (以心伝心) and Other Coincidences (奇遇)
I was writing to a former intern at Japan Subculture Research Center, Fresca, and asked her to send me her thesis to read---just as she mailed me. I…
The Wife of Seishu Hanaoka (華岡青洲の妻, Yasuzo Masumura, 1967)
A mother and a wife become locked in an absurd battle of one-upmanship volunteering as test subjects for a husband’s experiments in Yasuzo Masumura’s ironic relationship drama
Naruse A Master of the Japanese Cinema - Booklet
Articles by Audie Bock, Hideko Takamine and Kihachi Okamoto (19 Pages )
Naruse’s FLOWING (1956): The Fall of a Geisha Household
The more films by Mikio Naruse I see, the more I feel he belongs in the pantheon of great Japanese directors alongside the three I have long considered…
![Featured image for Rodan (1956) review [The Godzilla Project]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20230325/1679711411.56080.88972.jpg)
Rodan (1956) review [The Godzilla Project]
Honda delivers a bleak and disconcerting outlook on the optimistic post-war reparative economic growth.
South Korean Animations (1956 - 2021) | WooKong
A compilation of the South Korean animated works from 1956 to 2021. This is a supplementary video for "A Brief History of South Korean Animation" https://youtu.be/uQDFI30strY. Be sure…
A Radiant Heart — Mélie
“It means you’re gonna have to struggle, just like everyone else does. We all have things we have to push through.” Near the middle of Radiant’s second season,…
Otafu Susume 10 – My Wife’s Awakening (Links Awakening)
Wes has Jenn play the Switch remake of Links Awakening. They discuss the differences between the old and new, the Japanese and English, and modern games.
Silent Naruse: STREET WITHOUT END (1934)
Last year I saw eleven films directed by Mikio Naruse, raising to 24 the number of films I’ve seen by him. So far this year I’ve seen two…
A Wife Confesses (妻は告白する, Yasuzo Masumura, 1961)
A young widow finds herself on trial not exactly for her husband’s murder but the fact of her survival in Masumura’s noirish courtroom drama
Early Spring (早春, Yasujiro Ozu, 1956)
A dejected office worker and his disappointed wife battle the emptiness of the “salaryman dream” in Ozu’s embittered marital drama
A-Yokai-A-Day: The First Wife’s Revenge and The Miraculous Power of the Lotus Sutra
Many of the tales in Shokoku hyakumonogatari have story elements that are found in other famous folk tales. This book was published in the 17th century, but it…
A Heart-ful Valentine’s Day
With Valentine's Day approaching, Krystallina offers some anime-related gifts to consider giving in this week's Please Save My Money.
Yojimbo (用心棒, Akira Kurosawa, 1961)
A cynical ronin plays warring factions off against each other to save a moribund silk town in Akira Kurosawa’s samurai western.
Two Wives (妻二人, Yasuzo Masumura, 1967)
A conflicted social climber becomes disillusioned with his comfortable life on reencountering his uni girlfriend in Yasuzo Masumura’s dark mystery drama.
A Rainbow at Every Turn / 虹いくたび / Niji ikutabi / (1956)
Obscure Japanese Film #132 Machiko Kyo and Ayako Wakao Before I begin, I should point out that, although I don’t usually write a synopsis ...
Pierce (刺心切骨, Nelicia Low, 2023)
A young man finds himself conflicted when his older brother is released from prison in Nelicia Low’s intense fraternal drama.
Thousand Autumns (山河剑心) Impression **Spoilers**
“Yan Wushi had walked a path full of blood and corpses. He did not believe in the good nature of humanity. Even more so, he did not believe…
The Vampire Moth (吸血蛾, Nobuo Nakagawa, 1956)
Kindaichi is on the case when a series of fashion models is mysteriously bumped off by a butterfly-obsessed killer in Nobuo Nakagawa’s atmospheric horror.
Halloween Special Review: The Ghosts of Yotsuya (1956) review
An incredible horror film that retains its power to engage and thrill the spectator due to Tomisabura Wakayama’s outstanding performance.
Love Does Not Equal Trust – Saikey Studios Releases Sweet Wife’s Affair
On December 8th Saikey Studios released "Sweet Wife's affair" a translation for a 2023 Atelier Sakura game.
Whisper of the Heart: A Writer’s Journey
Greetings, fabulous people of the Internet! Hanime on Anime here, and welcome to the first Miyazaki May review! And today’s film got to me in a good way.…
Important Site’s Production & Funding Updates (Article output, Patreon realities, & a little heart-to-heart)
A few important updates regarding the site's article output and the current Patreon situation.
“The Story of How My Wife’s Mood Changes the Weather” Manga Review
AstroNerdBoy reviews the currently unlicensed, two volume, seinen, romance series "The Story of How My Wife's Mood Changes the Weather".
Kick-Heart
A short one-off art piece from Masaaki Yuasa that focuses on distinct animation to tell the story, rather than dialogue. Short enough that it’s definitely worth checking out,…
Atomic Heart
Originally I did not intend to play Atomic Heart. It has been compared to things like Fallout, Wolfenstein, and most importantly BioShock, which I have many good memories…
Mizuchi 白蛇心傳 Visual Novel from Aikasa Collective
It’s my favorite day of the week today, Guest Review Wednesday! And today we have our Senior VN reviewer Louise P to tell you about a lovely new…
Table for Six (飯戲攻心, Sunny Chan, 2022)
The eldest of three brothers desperately tries to keep the family together in Sunny Chan’s goodhearted familial farce
The Abandoned (查無此心, Tseng Ying-ting, 2022)
A policewoman consumed by grief finds herself investigating a series of murders of migrant women in Tseng Ying-ting’s dark mystery thriller.