In dialogue scenes (such as the one near the beginning where Keiko enters the party for a bar girl getting married), he employs a highly complex, yet for the most part invisible, cutting style of close-ups, two-shots, and ensembles, with characters shifting from foreground to background. It’s shocking how unknown Naruse is, and that (with such a long filmography) this is the only film yet released on DVD (at least R1). Why do you think he is not more well-known worldwide? Even with its touches of humor in an expression or a line of dialogue, it’s nowhere close to the campy, technicolor crescendo Sirk cooked up for Imitation of Life. Add to Wishlist. All Rights Reserved. It’s the undercurrent of Tokyo if you wander into the red district or happen to step outside the confines of the beautifully cultivated exterior. During his lifetime (1905–69), Naruse toiled away at his craft largely unsung, though respected by his peers, making more than eighty pictures. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs. Perhaps Naruse’s refusal to employ cheap, feel-good shortcuts (or, for that matter, facile apocalyptic bleakness) comes as such a relief in contrast to the usual box office fare. Played by the glamorous Takamine Hideko (1924– 2010), Keiko is older and wiser than her peers and is most desired by male customers. A middle-aged bar hostess, constantly in debt, is faced with numerous social constraints and challenges posed to her by her family, customers and friends. The only way to get ahead seems to be settling and giving in to the constant implicit or explicit demands of men. She has her own wayward needs, is in fact in love with a married businessman, Fujisaki (the wonderful actor Masayuki Mori, who played the potter in Ugetsu, and who subtly communicates here the burden of being “the type women go for”). Offers. If Mikio Naruse‘s Floating Clouds is a film about making peace with the war years, then When a Woman Who Ascends The Stairs is a far more forward-thinking endeavor. When Keiko decides to accept Sekine’s marriage proposal, we cheer her willingness to compromise by accepting this homely but essentially good-hearted man—only to discover he is not what he appears. The veil of social decency morphs into a veil of affection, relations predicated on the commodity of love making true human connection impossible to find. After the marriage plan with Sekine blows up, she gets drunk and throws herself at Fujisaki. The stairs in the title are both literal and symbolic, conveying the idea that Keiko is on a Sisyphean vertical treadmill, trying to get somewhere in this life as a woman on her own. What is it about Naruse’s films that touches this belated responsive chord? Sign up to get our cinematic goodness delivered to your inbox every weekend. Showing all 3 items Jump to: Summaries (3) Summaries. Showing all 48 external reviews. It’s the tug-of-war between familial duty and what she personally aspires to in life. It too was about a strong single woman trying to make her way in a world all but dominated by men. She describes life's vicious cycle: acting cheerful around drunks, dressing and living well to convey confidence, needing money for these expenses and for her demanding mother and brother, and knowing she's growing older. He has written extensively on the movies for the Criterion Collection, Film Comment, Cineaste, and the New York Times and is a professor at Columbia University. Tynan loves nagging all his friends to watch classic movies…. Naruse fills the canvas with sharp characterizations: the sexpot Junko (Reiko Dan), who snatches Keiko’s would-be patron for herself; the mother and brother who leech off of her; the long-suffering bartender-manager (played by rising star Tatsuya Nakadai) who unrequitedly loves Keiko but is not above a roll in the hay with Junko; the shrewd, right-to-the-point lady owner of the Carton Bar; the chubby, gentle-mannered suitor Sekine (Daisuke Kato). Still, her entire existence can be summed up by one early shot: presenting the daunting stairs winding up ahead of her toward her livelihood. Keiko, a middle-aged bar hostess who must choose to either get married or buy a bar of her own. TV Shows . The remnants of loneliness, suicide, and patriarchal ways are not just specters out of the past. They wear kimonos, buy perfume, and pay for taxis and apartments they can barely afford, way above their paygrade, just so they can maintain the fantasy for their obliging audience. A middle-aged bar hostess, constantly in debt, is faced with numerous social constraints and challenges posed to her by her family, customers and friends. When A Woman Ascends The Stairs Keiko, 'Mama', is a 30 yr old Geisha with many life pressures and is of an age where she must think about her future. Because in one go she effectively represents an entire subset of human beings and imbues them with unmistakable pathos. My last thought is only this. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs. 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