When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (The Criterion Collection) [DVD]

WHEN A WOMAN ASCENDS THE STAIRS is the first film of Japanese director Mikio Naruse to enter the prestigious Criterion collection. Naruse was often considered by western critics as the equal, in terms of quality, of Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujiro Ozu. After having seen and read the bonus presented with this DVD edition, I'm prone to agree with them.The movie is the portrait of a woman, Keiko Yashiro, called Mama by her peers. Mama is over 30 years old, still beautiful and admired by the customers of the bars she supervises. But Keiko belongs to a Japanese society and world which are disappearing in the late fifties. She still wears classy kimonos while her younger colleagues wear western clothes, she doesn't sleep with the customers because she hid in her husband's funeraire a letter promising that she will always be faithful to him. Keiko must now choose between two options : to marry a wealthy customer or to buy a bar of her own.One of the last scenes of WHEN A WOMAN ASCENDS THE STAIRS shows a desperate and drunk Keiko who is openly flirting with a customer in front of everybody. I'm sure you will feel in your very heart, just like I did, the embarrassment of her friends witnessing the so unusual behaviour of Mama.A DVD zone pretty geisha.

Film = Four stars plus; restoration = five stars. This is an excellent film which invites (almost “demands”) repeat viewings. Always the mark of film excellence! The movie depicts the financial challenges faced by and very limited career opportunities available to urban Japanese women even in the midst of their country’s remarkable economic recovery during the 1960’s. Japan’s persistent paternalistic culture is tightly woven into the script. Leading actress Hideko Takamine delivers a drop-dead, stunning performance. She is joined by talented supporting actresses and actors who are members of the director’s stock-company family. Wide-screen, black-and-white cinematography is first rate. So is the editing. Some day-time location shots capture Tokyo as it was, while highly-detailed “exterior” studio sets may have captured Tokyo as it might have been (especially its alleyways and at night). Film score sounds original and integrates well with other component parts of the movie. Line readings are easily understood, sound is consistently clear, and subtitles are fine. What’s not to like?! Highly recommended. WILLIAM F. FLANIGAN, PhD.

When a woman Ascends the Stairs is about a bar hostess named Keiko, played by Hideko Takamine, who wants to move up or out of her life style. She starts out as a manger of a bar but fails to make ends meet so has to get a job as a simple bar hostess. Entertaining businessmen for a living is not something she wishes to do the rest of her life - but to get out of it she either has to get more money to buy her OWN bar or get married. Full of grace, pride, smart and independent she refuses to take the easy ways out yet the hard ways of escape are, well, hard and we watch her as she runs in circles.In the end we respect her for her strong will but also feel sadness for the knowledge that she is doomed, like a puppy trapped in a well, which will drown no matter how much it tries to climb out. Emotional, depressing, enlightening and an important film this is a must for ANY film library.Extras include a audio commentary by Donald Richie, a new interview with Tatsuya Nakadai plus a great booklet full of essays, one of which is by Hideko Takamine herself!

What a beautiful women. She's the kind one would like to take and meet their parents. I really think she is the most beautiful women in the word. I'm 80 yrs old but still want to to marry this women. She shows her strength at the end , when her mentor gives a bunch of stock(money); which she decently returns to the man's wife and say "he forgot this. Then she goes back to being a "mama sun" climbing the stairs and greeting a "MaMa-sun again She should have been a Price's wife - moral, beautiful , class and lots of dignity. without the means to be.

Though not as well known as Ozu or Kurosawa in the West, Naruse is one of Japan's finest directors, and "Stairs" remains one of his most affecting works. Playing a refined woman in an occasionally sleazy after-hours business, Takamine brings just the right mix of elegance and sweet, careworn despondency to the role of Keiko, an expert handler of men who earns the respect of clients like chubby philanderer Sekine (Daisuke Kato), bank official Fujisaki (Masayuki Mori), and businessman Minobe (Eitaro Ozawa). But it's bar manager Komatsu (Nakadai) who secretly pines for the lovely widower, idealizing her to the point of indiscretion. With its plaintive piano theme, recurring image of Keiko's feet ascending to her workplace, and gently unspooling storyline, "Stairs" is a triumph of cool emotion that emphasizes just how lonely people can be.

My first Japanese film. Depicts Japan at a turning of the age for women who desired to achieve as much as men.

This is a movie about a real person you come to identify with and like, in a difficult situation, in real life, with real dialogue. Not phony stupid people you won't care about, in nonsensical situations, trying to deal with trivial issues, with stupid dialogue. In a drama that's what people look for. The exotic setting is also a plus. The quality of the DVD is very fine, and the subtitles are no problem.

I have this movie on VHS. I was delighted when Criteria Collection came out with this. A woman, who despises working as a bar maid, is continuously used by men, finds the best person to count on is - herself. Also, be thankful for what you got. You have to bring your own happiness. The performances are quite stellar. You will really enjoy it.