Isuzu Yamada is the owner of one of the most respected geisha houses in Tokyo. However, business isn't good. She borrowed 300,000 yen from her sister for her lover, who has since left her. Her daughter, Hideko Takamine, has no interest in being a geisha or marrying. Seiji Miyaguchi, the foul-mouthed uncle of a former employee, is demanding money.
Mikio Naruse's movie, derived from Aya Kôda's novel, is an excellent, if typical work from the director. Ozu might direct movies about how families stay together in a changing Japan. Naruse more often worked in the tragedy of those who go under. Over the course of two hours, we watch as these characters slowly reveal themselves to us, not by the artfully and obviously-placed camera, seated unmoving at floor level, but through the eyes of newly-hired maid-of-all-work Kinuyo Tanaka. Naruse's style in unremarkable for its moment in cinema history, working near the top end of technical expertise. People don't act, they behave, and we tell what they are thinking by observing the rifts between these great actresses' behavior in one scene and the next.
Mikio Naruse's movie, derived from Aya Kôda's novel, is an excellent, if typical work from the director. Ozu might direct movies about how families stay together in a changing Japan. Naruse more often worked in the tragedy of those who go under. Over the course of two hours, we watch as these characters slowly reveal themselves to us, not by the artfully and obviously-placed camera, seated unmoving at floor level, but through the eyes of newly-hired maid-of-all-work Kinuyo Tanaka. Naruse's style in unremarkable for its moment in cinema history, working near the top end of technical expertise. People don't act, they behave, and we tell what they are thinking by observing the rifts between these great actresses' behavior in one scene and the next.