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Discussions of Mikio Naruse‘s “Daughters, Wives and a Mother” often highlight the numerous actors who appear in the movie, which likely contributed to its success upon release. It isn’t hard to see why. The large ensemble cast stands out, its size rivaling that of some of Toho’s war features, such as Kihachi Okamoto‘s “Japan’s Longest Day,” and samurai epics, like Hiroshi Inagaki‘s “Chushingura.” Yet beyond that novelty, the real question is how it holds up altogether. The answer is that it’s a film that succeeds in certain areas, but it also suffers from some significant flaws.

Daughters, Wives and a Mother is screening at Metrograph as part of the Mikio Naruse: The World Betrays Us program

Set in Tokyo, the story follows an extended family who live in a spacious home. Aging widow Aki Sakanishi worries about her five adult children, who are facing personal and financial struggles.

By the 1950s, Mikio Naruse had mastered his craft as a filmmaker and made one marvelous film after another. This consistency carried into his later years, as evidenced by his powerful masterpiece, “Yearning,” known in Japan as “Midareru,” which translates to “Confused.” Released in 1964, the feature stars Naruse regular Hideko Takamine, with a screenplay by her husband, Zenzo Matsuyama, with whom the director had worked previously, including on “Daughters, Wives and a Mother” and “A Woman’s Place.” Moreover, this was the auteur’s first of only two collaborations with singer-turned-actor Yuzo Kayama, the other being his final film, “Scattered Clouds.”

Sincerity is screening at Japan Society as part of the Mikio Naruse: The World Betrays Us program

The story begins in a neighborhood where we are introduced to Reiko Morita, a war widow who has been running a grocery shop in her late husband’s family home for 18 years.

Japanese actor whose forte was courageous, independent, strong-willed heroines

Although Japan had been making films since the beginnings of cinema, Japanese films remained virtually unknown in the west for more than half a century. Shamefully, it has taken almost as long again to recognise the greatness of the director Mikio Naruse, and consequently the remarkable talents of Hideko Takemine, his leading lady in more than a dozen films, who has died of lung cancer aged 86.

In the same way as Kinuyo Tanaka became associated with the films of Kenji Mizoguchi, and Setsuko Hara with those of Yasujiro Ozu, Takemine embodied Naruse's heroines – courageous, independent, strong-willed, conscientious women, faced with misfortune. Naruse once remarked about his female characters: "If they try to move forward even a little, they quickly hit a wall." The director Akira Kurosawa's description of Naruse's films as "looking calm and ordinary at first glance but which...

2010 began and ended with the deaths of great octogenarian film artists. Eric Rohmer died on January 11, a few months shy of his 90th birthday; and Hideko Takamine left us on December 28, at the age of 86. In Rohmer's case, death had been waiting in a corner of the room: just a few months before, we had seen Jackie Raynal's 2009 documentary footage, showing the alarming decline of his physical (but not mental) powers over the course of a few months. But it was quite different with Hideko, who was said to be living happily in retirement in Hawaii with her husband, writer Zenzo Matsuyama. Out of the sight of film audiences since 1979, she existed in a sunlit, remote corner of the imagination: there seemed no reason for her ever to die.

The image of Hideko that comes quickest to my mind is a scene from Mikio Naruse's A Wife's Heart...

Celebrated Japanese actress Hideko Takamine has lost her battle with lung cancer. She was 86.

Takamine passed away at a Tokuo hospital on Tuesday, reports Kyodo News.

The actress made her film debut at the age of five in 1929 silent film Haha (Mother) and rose to fame as Japan's answer to Shirley Temple.

She gained stardom with 1938's Tsuzurikata Kyoshitsu (Writing Lessons) and went on to appear in a string of major hits in the 1950s, including Niju-shi no Hitomi (Twenty-four Eyes) in 1954, Ukigumo (Floating Clouds) in 1955 and Yorokobi mo Kanashimi mo Ikutoshitsuki (The Lighthouse) in 1957.

Her fame continued after she retired from acting in 1979, when she embarked on a second career as an award-winning essayist.

She is survived by her husband, director and writer Zenzo Matsuyama.

The Human Condition Trilogy No Greater Love (1959), The Road to Eternity (1959), A Soldier’s Prayer (1961) Direction: Masaki Kobayashi Screenplay: Zenzo Matsuyama and Masaki Kobayashi; from Jumpei Gomikawa’s novel Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama Michiyo Aratama, Tatsuya Nakadai in The Human Condition Masaki Kobayashi’s The Human Condition, based on Jumpei Gomikawa’s novel, is probably as well known for its scope [...]...