Mother (1952)

Mother (Okaasan)
Directed by Mikio Naruse
Written by Yôko Mizuki
1952/Japan
Shintoho Film Distribution Committee
First viewing/Hulu

All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother. — Abraham Lincoln

This is a moving tribute to mothers struggling to keep their families together amidst the hardships of postwar Japan.

The Fukuhara family consists of mother, father, a grown son who is confined to bed by “exhaustion”, a teenage daughter, a grade school age daughter, and the young son of the mother’s sister, a widow who is studying to be a hair dresser.  The story is narrated by the teenage daughter and mother is played by Kinuyo Tanaka, looking much changed from her great performance in The Life of Oharu this same year.

Hardship is never far from this family but there are plenty of lighter moments as well.  This is more or less a glimpse of daily life as the family tries to make a go of a laundry business.  Mother soldiers on as she loses first her son and then her husband.  Finally, after her husband’s death, she decides to allow his brother to adopt the youngest girl.  Nevertheless, the love between all these people is palpable.

I really liked this movie.  This is the closest I have seen Naruse get to the light touch one finds in Ozu’s films.  The children are pretty great and provide much of the humor.  The story is moving without ever once succumbing to melodrama.  Recommended.

Clip  (Spanish subtitles)