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Mikio Naruse-Meshi ('Repast') (1951)

Posted By: FNB47
Mikio Naruse-Meshi ('Repast') (1951)

Mikio Naruse-Meshi ('Repast') (1951)
719.3 MB | 1:37:00 | Japanese with English s/t | XviD, 875 Kb/s | 688x512

In many of his most successful films, Naruse depicted common people, living their lives. With Repast the director set his characters to the task of navigating their way amidst a pungent atmosphere of fading love. Set shortly after World War II, Repast is about a struggling marriage between salaryman Hatsunosuke (Ken Uehara) and his wife Michiyo (Setsuko Hara). It focuses on the emotional crisis of the bored housewife. The tedium of her domestic life – consumed by repetitive tasks such as cooking and cleaning – is brought into focus by a visit from Hatsunosuke’s niece, Satoko (Yukiko Shimazaki). Satoko’s arrival, and the amount of attention Hatsunosuke devotes to her charms, leads to further unhappiness for Michiyo, who is forced to confront her future. In the hands of master director Naruse, this adaptation of an unfinished novel by Fumiko Hayashi offers a fascinating exploration of married life, from the habitual routine of everyday existence to the hope for a better tomorrow that may or may not keep such relationships alive. Eureka Video

Mikio Naruse-Meshi ('Repast') (1951)

Mikio Naruse-Meshi ('Repast') (1951)

Mikio Naruse-Meshi ('Repast') (1951)

Michiyo moved to Osaka two years ago, when her husband Hatsunosuke who works at a stock brokerage was transfered from Tokyo. She wash, cook and clean 365 days a year. All the dreams and hopes she had when they got married five years ago seems to be gone. From here on we follow the everyday life of Mr. and Mrs. Okamoto. (http://imdb.com/title/tt0043801/plotsummary)

Mikio Naruse-Meshi ('Repast') (1951)

Mikio Naruse-Meshi ('Repast') (1951)

Mikio Naruse-Meshi ('Repast') (1951)

Repast is the first of many films by Mikio Naruse to be based on the stories of Fumiko Hayashi, in this case on Hayashi's last unfinished novel. Repast is a family drama set in Osaka and Tokyo shortly after the end of World War II. Economic circumstances make life difficult for Michiyo, an Osaka housewife played by Ozu regular Setsuko Hara in an exceptionally nuanced performance. She has been married for five years and the dream of a better life has faded. Her husband Hatsunosuke (Ken Uehara) has a low paying job and her life consists only of the repetitive chores of cleaning, washing, and cooking with no promise of a better future, a fact that she draws constant attention to. (http://imdb.com/title/tt0043801/usercomments)

Mikio Naruse-Meshi ('Repast') (1951)

Mikio Naruse-Meshi ('Repast') (1951)

Mikio Naruse-Meshi ('Repast') (1951)

Michiyo is at first welcoming when Hatsunosuke's niece Satoko (Yukiko Shimazaki) comes to visit but soon becomes annoyed and jealous when her husband takes her on a tour of Osaka and pays an inordinate amount of attention to her charms. When her dissatisfaction becomes crystallized, she decides to return to Tokyo to visit her mother (Haruko Sugimura). She is torn between wanting to find a job and remaining separated or returning to her husband to continue with the struggle. She writes a letter to Hatsunosuke ostensibly to say she will not return but it is never mailed. The way her ambivalence is resolved will cause some consternation for modern day women's rights advocates, but seems appropriate under the circumstances (http://imdb.com/title/tt0043801/usercomments)

Mikio Naruse-Meshi ('Repast') (1951)

Mikio Naruse-Meshi ('Repast') (1951)

Mikio Naruse-Meshi ('Repast') (1951)

Mikio Naruse is not as well known as some of the more acclaimed Japanese masters (Ozu, Kurosawa, Mizoguchi), yet judging from the few movies I have seen of him, he is at least their equal. This film stars Setsuko Hara (a Naruse, as well as Ozu, regular) as Michiyo, an unhappy housewife living in Osaka whose marriage to Hatsuno (played by Ken Uehara, another regular of Naruse as well as Ozu) is on the rocks. She eventually moves to Tokyo back with her mother and siblings to weigh the options. Hatsuno, after newly coping with single life (and having to clean the house now that the wife is gone) eventually follows her to try to win her back.
(http://imdb.com/title/tt0043801/usercomments)

Mikio Naruse-Meshi ('Repast') (1951)

Mikio Naruse-Meshi ('Repast') (1951)

Mikio Naruse-Meshi ('Repast') (1951)

There's not much more plot wise, and the ending may be disappointing to some (feminists, specially) but the movie is altogether a triumph as a fascinating portrayal of human emotion and truth.
(http://imdb.com/title/tt0043801/usercomments)

Mikio Naruse-Meshi ('Repast') (1951)

Mikio Naruse-Meshi ('Repast') (1951)

Mikio Naruse-Meshi ('Repast') (1951)