Flowing

Isuzu Yamada is the owner of one of the most respected geisha houses in Tokyo. However, business isn't good. She borrowed 300,000 yen from her sister for her lover, who has since left her. Her daughter, Hideko Takamine, has no interest in being a geisha or marrying. Seiji Miyaguchi, the foul-mouthed uncle of a former employee, is demanding money.

Mikio Naruse's movie, derived from Aya Kôda's novel, is an excellent, if typical work from the director. Ozu might direct movies about how families stay together in a changing Japan. Naruse more often worked in the tragedy of those who go under. Over the course of two hours, we watch as these characters slowly reveal themselves to us, not by the artfully and obviously-placed camera, seated unmoving at floor level, but through the eyes of newly-hired maid-of-all-work Kinuyo Tanaka. Naruse's style in unremarkable for its moment in cinema history, working near the top end of technical expertise. People don't act, they behave, and we tell what they are thinking by observing the rifts between these great actresses' behavior in one scene and the next.

'Flowing' is a moving, beautifully made story centered around the demise of a long established geisha house, drowned under mounting debts. We witness the story largely through the eyes of the new maid Rika (Kinuyo Tenaka) as the elegant but unworldly mistress of the house Otsuta (Isuzu Yamata) tries to save her business. In this she is aided by her more worldly daughter Katsuyo (Hideko Takamine), but she is undermined by her hard-nosed older sister and an apparently sympathetic senior geisha guild member.

There is really nothing to this story - just an episode in the death of an older world, but its told with great sensitivity and not a little humour. There is a very funny scene where two drunken geisha joke about how little they have to do to make their money. But the overwhelming feeling is nostalgia and sadness as these women fight the dying of their business in a harsh world where women without husbands are thrown onto their own devices. It is also unusual in that it deals honestly and frankly with the aging process and the fear of poverty in old age.

The reputation of Naruse seems to be increasing all the time - he is surely in the top rank of directors. This is the first of his movies that I've seen, but I would definitely want to see more. Every scene is beautifully framed with lovely sets and wonderful, naturalistic acting. There is a rare sense of authenticity about this movie. It is worth seeing both as an example of a terrific movie (it is genuinely compelling and entertaining) and a fascinating insight into another world.

Strongly recommended both for film buffs who want to know more about this fine director, and for anyone interested in Japanese culture.

While watching this film, you could be reminded of Mizoguchi's "Street Of Shame" which mined the same territory, that being a geisha house in Tokyo at the time when the government of Japan was considering outlawing prostitution. The difference between the two films is that this film is less grim, though by no means a happy film. Set almost completely in the geisha house, it tells the story of the people in it. Not all are geishas, though. Hideko Takamine plays the daughter, and she wants to get a regular job. The house itself is in debt, with the threat always looming that the mother will have to sell. The actresses in this film are excellent, and they make the film so, so good. The aforementioned Ms. Takamine, Izuzu Yamada, Kinuyo Tanaka and especially the amazing Haruko Sugimura are just great portraying the characters in this film. It is not an especially happy life, but director Naruse shows brilliantly that these ladies know how to do one thing best: survive. A near great film, on a par with "Street Of Shame", but not so foreboding. Highly recommended.

A movie from a renowned director with a great cast, but just not for me. The story is essentially the behind the scenes struggles of a geisha house which is slowly failing, but it's so flat that its nearly two hour runtime became a challenge, and I say that despite my adoration for Hideko Takemine. The sources of tension for these characters center around money, with one geisha feeling like she didn't get her fair share of the cut, resulting in her belligerent uncle showing up. There's also the unpaid merchants around the neighborhood, and the madam's older sister, who expects monthly payments from her loan for the business.

Part of the problem for me might be that there seems to be many Japanese movies from this period about geisha (or sometimes hostess bar women), even though this one plays like a character study which almost could have been done behind the scenes in any struggling business. It was telling, however, that Takemine's character early on says that being a geisha wasn't for her because, as she put it, "I couldn't ingratiate myself with every type of customer," even if we never see any customers. I also confess it was a little sad seeing the training of the little girls from a young age to be a part of this profession, even with the understanding of them becoming "skilled in the arts."

In a larger sense, though, the film is about a changing world, and expresses a sad truth, that customs and occupations change along with it, some dying out along the way. Naruse is ever so gentle in providing a pessimistic view about the future for most of these women, and to his credit knew how to end the film. The older women playing the shamisen quite beautifully in what is essentially a doomed house, while Takemine's character is already working at learning a new craft, sewing, is fantastic. It just wasn't enough to save the overall experience for me.

This is a series of vaguely connected episodes set in and around a geisha house. Staff come and go. There are money transactions between everybody. Naruse knows this area to perfection and uses this knowledge and some tremendous actresses to portray both interesting day to day details and some of the major issues. Linked themes are the ending both of careers and of businesses in the context of a decline in the popularity of geishas and their traditional entertainment skills in post war Japan. Even less than in other Naruse films, there is little depiction of the geisha with clients and more about their 'off stage' lives.

As ever, Naruse's camera-work and editing is tremendous in capturing scenes and actions.