Mikio Naruse

 Mikio Naruse




Repast (1951)



RANKED:


1. Repast (1951)


Although Mikio Naruse had a 20 year career by the time he made 1951's "Repast," it was this film that changed things for the director. Critics had regarded his films very unfavorably or mildly until "Repast," which breathed new life into the artistic sails of the Japanese director. Taking advantage of Setsuko Hara's rising stardom as an actress, Naruse cast her as a exhausted housewife going through an existential crisis. The film demonstrates what many Japanese films were demonstrating at the time: the pressures and limitations being placed on Japanese women at the time by careless and uncaring men. 

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