The Idiot (1951)

Setsuko Hara: Taeko Nasu

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Quotes 

• Ayako : Do you have any idea what sort of person Mr. Kameda is?

  Taeko Nasu : I certainly do. I daresay I know far better than you.

  Ayako : That's a lie! You couldn't possibly know.

  Taeko Nasu : Why not?

  Ayako : Why not? Because you only ever think of yourself. Drunk on your own misery, you don't see the grief you cause in others.

• Taeko Nasu : What is it? You look like you've just seen a ghost.

• Taeko Nasu : [to Kameda]  What a strange man!

• Mutsuo Kayama, the secretary : Allow me to introduce Mr. Kameda, a very interesting fellow. A relative of Mr. Ono's.

  Taeko Nasu : Forgive me. I took you for a servant.

  Kinji Kameda : Not at all. I...

  Taeko Nasu : But how do you know me? And why did you look so surprised when you saw me?

  Kinji Kameda : I felt - as if I'd seen your eyes somewhere before.

• Tohata : There's something I must tell you.

  Taeko Nasu : You're very kind, but I prefer to keep drinking.

• Servant : A Mr. Kameda has arrived.

  Ono, Ayako's father : Mr. Kameda?

  Mutsuo Kayama, the secretary : He met Taeko at my place today.

  Taeko Nasu : I asked you to bring him. Why didn't you? Show him in.

  Servant : Yes, Ma'am.

  Ono, Ayako's father : Why him of all people?

  Taeko Nasu : You mean, because he's an idiot? I don't believe he is. On the contrary, he may be a good deal more astute than either of you. Especially at seeing into another person's heart.

• Taeko Nasu : He trusted me from the moment he met me. That's why I trust him.

• Taeko Nasu : I'm leaving here tonight - with nothing.

  Tohata : No, Taeko! I was wrong. I've been such a fool.

  Taeko Nasu : I've had enough. I'm no longer your 14-year-old mistress.

• Kinji Kameda : When I first saw your picture, you seemed to be calling to me.

  Taeko Nasu : You see I've been waiting for somebody like you. Ever since I began this awful life as a kept woman, I hoped and prayed imagining someone like you. Hoping that a good, honest, kind man would appear. "Taeko, it's not your fault. I still respect you." How I longed to hear those words! But instead it was always just him. He'd do lewd and shameful things to me and then leave. I can't take it anymore. I'd rather die in the street than go on living like this. Yet, I'm afraid the life you envision for us is a fairy tale.

• Taeko Nasu : [to Kameda]  I can't ruin the life of an innocent child like you.

• Denkichi Akama : Frightened of a mere girl?

  Taeko Nasu : Yes, I am. I'm afraid to even look at her. She's everything I ever dreamed of being. She possesses everything I've ever lost. - - She represents an ideal for me.

• Taeko Nasu : I want her to have the kind of life I dreamed of. But...

  Denkichi Akama : But if you meet her, you may not like her.

• Taeko Nasu : You're terrified that he might love me more. That's why you're here.

  Ayako : You're wrong. It's pity he feels for you, not love.

  Taeko Nasu : It amounts to the same thing. But I know I have no right to accept his love.