Nook NotesPick a film
Mikio Naruse

Director

Mikio Naruse

Born August 20, 1905 in Tokyo, JapanDied July 2, 196981 films

Mikio Naruse (August 20, 1905 – July 2, 1969) was a Japanese filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer who directed some 89 films spanning the period 1930 (towards the end of the silent period in Japan) to 1967.

Read more

Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook. He made primarily shomin-geki (working-class drama) films with female protagonists, portrayed by actresses such as Hideko Takamine, Kinuyo Tanaka, and Setsuko Hara. Because of his focus on family drama and the intersection of traditional and modern Japanese culture, his films are frequently compared with the works of Yasujirō Ozu. His reputation is just behind Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi, and Ozu in Japan and internationally; his work remains less well known outside Japan than theirs.

Akira Kurosawa called Naruse's style of melodrama, "like a great river with a calm surface and a raging current in its depths".

Description above from the Wikipedia article Mikio Naruse, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Start here

The best way into Mikio Naruse's work
Yearning posterFirst watchYearning19648.1War widow Reiko rebuilds and runs the grocery shop in the house of her husband's family. Many years later, their business is threatened by a newly built supermarket and Reiko's in-laws…View film

Essential films

Ranked by acclaim and reach
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs poster8.0When a Woman Ascends the Stairs1960Floating Clouds poster7.7Floating Clouds1955Sound of the Mountain poster7.4Sound of the Mountain1954

Filmography

81 films as director
  1. 1967Two in the ShadowDirector
  2. 1966Moment of TerrorDirector
  3. 1966The Stranger Within a WomanDirector
  4. 1964YearningDirector
  5. 1963A Woman's LifeDirector
  6. 1962A Wanderer's NotebookDirector
  7. 1962The Wiser AgeDirector
  8. 1961The Other WomanDirector
  9. 1960The Approach of AutumnDirector
  10. 1960The Lovelorn GeishaDirector
  11. 1960Daughters, Wives and a MotherDirector
  12. 1960When a Woman Ascends the StairsDirector
  13. 1959A Whistle in My HeartDirector
  14. 1958Summer CloudsDirector
  15. 1958Little PeachDirector
  16. 1957Untamed WomanDirector
  17. 1956FlowingDirector
  18. 1956A Wife's HeartDirector
  19. 1956Sudden RainDirector
  20. 1955The First KissDirector
  21. 1955Floating CloudsDirector
  22. 1954Late ChrysanthemumsDirector
  23. 1954Sound of the MountainDirector
  24. 1953Brother and SisterDirector
  25. 1953WifeDirector
  26. 1953Husband and WifeDirector
  27. 1952LightningDirector
  28. 1952MotherDirector
  29. 1952Okuni and GoheiDirector
  30. 1951RepastDirector
  31. 1951Dancing GirlDirector
  32. 1951Ginza CosmeticsDirector
  33. 1950Battle of RosesDirector
  34. 1950White BeastDirector
  35. 1950The Angry StreetDirector
  36. 1950Conduct Report on Professor IshinakaDirector
  37. 1949Delinquent GirlDirector
  38. 1947Spring AwakensDirector
  39. 1947Four Love StoriesDirector
  40. 1946Both You and IDirector
  41. 1946A Descendant of Urashima TaroDirector
  42. 1945A Tale of Archery at the SanjusangendoDirector
  43. 1945Until Victory DayDirector
  44. 1944The Way of DramaDirector
  45. 1944This Happy LifeDirector
  46. 1943The Song LanternDirector
  47. 1942Mother Never DiesDirector
  48. 1941Hideko the Bus ConductorDirector
  49. 1941Shanghai MoonDirector
  50. 1941A Fond Face from the PastDirector
  51. 1940Travelling ActorsDirector
  52. 1939SincerityDirector
  53. 1939The Whole Family WorksDirector
  54. 1938Tsuruhachi and TsurujiroDirector
  55. 1937Learn from Experience, Part TwoDirector
  56. 1937Learn from Experience, Part OneDirector
  57. 1937AvalancheDirector
  58. 1937A Woman's SorrowsDirector
  59. 1936Morning's Tree-Lined StreetDirector
  60. 1936The Road I Travel with YouDirector
  61. 1936Man of the HouseDirector
  62. 1935The Girl in the RumorDirector
  63. 1935Five Men in a CircusDirector
  64. 1935Wife! Be Like a Rose!Director
  65. 1935The Actress and the PoetDirector
  66. 1935Three Sisters with Maiden HeartsDirector
  67. 1934Street Without EndDirector
  68. 1933SôbôDirector
  69. 1933A Man with a Married Woman's HairdoDirector
  70. 1933Every-Night DreamsDirector
  71. 1933Apart from YouDirector
  72. 1932No Blood RelationDirector
  73. 1932Chocolate GirlDirector
  74. 1932Moth-eaten SpringDirector
  75. 1932Crying to the Blue SkyDirector
  76. 1931The Strength of a MoustacheDirector
  77. 1931Flunky, Work Hard!Director
  78. 1930Love and PowerDirector
  79. 1930Hard TimesDirector
  80. 1930Pure LoveDirector
  81. 1930Mr. and Mrs. SwordplayDirector