MattH.

HTF REVIEW: WHEN A WOMAN ASCENDS THE STAIRS

The Film

2005’s Memoirs of a Geisha gave mainstream audiences a view of a culture and a society of women that for many must have been a revelation. For my money, however, Mikio Naruse’s 1960 film When a Woman Ascends the Stairs focuses the spotlight on the same geisha/bar culture in Japan with a considerably more sober and realistic view of that particular world. It’s a quiet but quietly involving melodrama that shows us how difficult it was in this period of Japanese history for women with the few options open to them to survive.

Keiko Yashiro better known as Mama (Hideko Takamine) is a geisha (bar hostess), well thought of and sought after on the Ginza. Though still beautiful, she realizes that time is her enemy and she must start making plans for her future. Does she continue doing what she’s doing even though she doesn’t enjoy it (the film’s title being a symbol for what she most loathes, climbing the stairs to the bar where she works)? Does she borrow money so she can open her own bar and bring her current patrons into her own place where, if she’s successful, she can enjoy a slice of the profits (after she’s paid back all her loans)? Does she attempt to land a wealthy (and almost always unappealing) patron and marry so she can leave worries about money and remaining alluring behind? These questions consume her during the film’s entire running time.

Mama’s problems are confounded by a family that seems to be unable to fend for itself: a shiftless brother with a crippled child and a mother who does not work and requires 20,000 yen a month on which to live. She must also maintain an expensive apartment for herself and clothes, perfume, and other amenities that suggest an independence she really doesn’t have. Her mounting worries over her family and the constant need for money cause her to develop an ulcer. And, at the bar where she works, the handsome manager (Tatsuya Makadai) looks to her as a symbol of purity, nursing a crush that he doesn’t act upon until late in the film.

Director Naruse’s touch is light and direct, and the film glides from one sequence to the next without bombast. We get drawn into Mama’s world: her patrons, her friends, her troubles, her highs and lows almost without realizing how hooked we’ve become. When the end arrives, we are as resigned to Mama’s fate as she is.

Video Quality

The Toho Scope 2.35:1 black and white picture is presented in anamorphic video. It’s a clean print with only a few scratches late in the film but some fairly regular intervals of minor spotting and flashing. The image is quite sharp, and I only noticed one or two instances of what appeared to be edge enhancement. The contrast is beautiful, and the film looks most of the time quite fresh with whites that never bloom and blacks that seem true. This is a very nice, solid transfer with very easy to read white subtitles. The film is divided into 25 chapters.

Audio Quality

The DVD offers Dolby Digital mono and Dolby Digital 3.0 “Perspecta” stereo. Both sounded about the same with the stereo track being a little fuller and a bit louder. There is some hiss that hasn’t been removed, but it’s not obtrusive. There was some flutter in the main title sequence but none once the actual film started.

Special Features

Japanese film historian Donald Richie offers an interesting running commentary on the film and on director Mikio Naruse’s career. The scholar has written quite a few well regarded books on Japanese cinema, and his commentary is direct and informative, partly describing the action on the screen but never only that. As I have seen few of Naruse’s other films, I found the commentary especially enlightening.

Actor Tatsuya Nakadai is featured in a 2005 interview about his career and especially what it was like working with Naruse on this film. He also describes his awe of working with leading actress Hideko Takamine and the debt he owes her for helping him during filming. Still a handsome man in his 70s, Nakadai’s interview is well worth watching.

Criterion has also included in the case a 36 page booklet filled with articles on the film, the director, and a remembrance by actor Tatsuya Nakadai on his last visit with the director before his death in 1969. There are also some stunning black and white stills included in the enclosure.

In Conclusion

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs may not strike the same chords of familiarity as Rashomon or Ugetsu or The Burmese Harp, but its story will still capture the attention if given half a chance. For me, it’s an easy recommendation.

Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC