When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960)

 Mikio Naruse's "When a Woman Ascends the Stairs"

Although he would go on to make a batch of films over the next seven years, Mikio Naruse's final great work of note is his 1960 film "When a Woman Ascends the Stairs." He reteams with frequent acting collaborator Hideko Takamine, who was an acting force in Japan at the time. Centering on a woman trying to assert her independence in a male-dominated landscape, "When a Woman Ascends the Stairs" is a perfect encapsulation of the female-centric stories that Japanese filmmakers like Naruse and the late Kenji Mizoguchi were known for.

It centers on Keiko, also affectionately called 'mama,' a young widow approaching 30 who works as a hostess at a bar in Ginza. She has reached a turning point in her life where she must decide whether she wants to gather funds to open her own bar or marry. However, it becomes clear that her only path forward is through the approval and support of a men, who hold the keys to her entire life.

One of the reasons why the film works so well is due to its lead, Hideko Takamine. Her performance as the compassionate, yet headstrong Keiko really affected me and pulled me directly into her plight. The whole film is her failed attempt to get beyond the selfish and manipulative men in her life. These measures to gain independence illustrate the grim difficulty for women in post-war Japan and the imbalanced economic freedom between the two.

In lock step with the illustration of gender dynamics are the socio-economic ramifications. Throughout the entire film, every character is concerned about money. In this post-war capitalistic landscape, money is power - and thereby, money is freedom. The reason for the complete lack of social unification (which could ultimately lead to a more preferred and balanced gender dynamic) is due to this necessitation for money. The characters cannot trust each other or unite for any common goals because their own independence in this economic hellscape is at stake.

I think "When a Woman Ascends the Stairs" (for these reasons) would have been a script for Kenji Mizoguchi to adapt had it not been for his untimely death. The story fits in more with his themes of female salvation in the new post-war economic landscape. However, Mikio Naruse adds a layer of tonal depth to the film that only he could conjure. Naruse is a master of tone and much of what you could gather from "When a Woman Ascends the Stairs" is through its richly bleak tonal execution.