Directed by Mikio Naruse
Written by Sumie Tanaka and Toshirô Ide from stories by Fumiko Hayashi
1954/Japan
Toho Company
First viewing/Hulu Plus
[box]“You can be young without money, but you can’t be old without it.”
― Tennessee Williams[/box]
This is a sympathetic look at a group of retired geishas and the role money plays in their lives.
The story is very episodic and meandering. Kin (Haruku Sugimura, the selfish daughter in Tokyo Story) saved her money wisely while she was a geisha. Now she has become a moneylender and slumlord. Some of her clients are former geishas themselves. One is doing some type of menial labor and is gambling and hitting the sake too hard. She has a sharp, modern daughter who is getting ready to marry an older man and is not a soft touch for money. She lives with another ex-geisha who is working as a hotel maid and worrying about her unemployed son and the affair he is having with the mistress of another man. Kin makes regular visits to the two to hound them about their unpaid debts and rent.
The other geisha’s know that as a young woman, Kin was romantic. She attempted double-suicide with her lover Seki. When the suicide failed, Seki was convicted of attempted murder. After leaving prison, he made his way to Manchuria to do hard labor.
Seki is now back in town and Kin refuses to have anything to do with him. Kin next gets a letter from another former lover who wants to visit her. The remainder of the story moves from one woman to the next as they deal with their children and lovers and try to make ends meet.
I liked this movie a lot. I’m still not sure what the message was, if any. Kin is shown to be grasping and disliked by all, yet she is the only one that seems to have her life in order. But the poorer women are not necessarily any better. They are constantly scrounging for money, in one case just to buy sake and gamble. They have children but these relationships are strained. So what was a geisha to do? The acting is excellent and the film is beautifully shot. I also liked the score a lot.
Thanks for another Japanese discovery
This is a good one. I’m going to be getting to Twenty-four Eyes soon. I just need three hours at one time in my day!
You remembered, wow, impressed.
(sorry again for hijacking a review with the following-)
Came back in (the probably faint) hope that this one may be new to you….Always Sunset on 3rd Street (2005).
Just watched it and was very impressed. Was a real trip back in time to those feel good movies of the past but so well done…as in: it’s cliched but things only became a cliche because so many people liked them.
I couldn’t say it better than this quote-
“But pluck and luck abound in this gorgeous period piece that feels like a Frank Capra movie if he’d been a little more cynical and a lot more Japanese. Based on a popular manga, ALWAYS – SUNSET ON THIRD STREET is a movie that guarantees you’ll cry at the end, but you won’t feel cheap about it. This movie is so assured, and so beautifully crafted that you can give in to it on the first date and still respect yourself in the morning.”…NY Asian Film Festival 2006
I’ll be glad if you’ve seen it and liked it but even happier if you haven’t (hope that makes sense) as I’ll have given you something back…I’m 99.9% certain this one will delight you.
Thank you! I’ll keep my eye out for Always. It indeed sounds like my cup of tea.