Ginza keshô (1951)

A few days in the life of a quiet geisha, single mother of a young, smart boy, in the lively Tokyo quarter of Ginza. A woman devoted to other people's needs, she will end by taking part ... See full summary »

Director:

Mikio Naruse

Writers:

Tomoichirô Inoue (novel), Matsuo Kishi (screenplay)

Stars:

Kinuyo Tanaka, Ranko Hanai, Yûji Hori

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kinuyo Tanaka	...	Yukiko Tsuji
Ranko Hanai	...	Shizue Sayama
Yûji Hori	...	Kyosuke Iwagawa
Kyôko Kagawa	...	Kyôko
Eijirô Yanagi	...	Seikichi Kineya
Eijirô Tôno	...	Hyôbei Sugano
Yoshihiro Nishikubo	...	Haruo
Haruo Tanaka	...	Gonroku Shirai
Yoshio Kosugi	...	Eijirô Kasai
Masao Mishima	...	Tasuzô Fujimura
Tamae Kiyokawa	...	Saku Kineya
Yoko Haruyama	...	Yumiko (as Yôko Haruyama)
Kiyoko Tsuji	...	Sachiko - madame
Rikie Sanjo	...	(as Rikie Sanjô)
Kikuko Hanaoka

Storyline

A few days in the life of a quiet geisha, single mother of a young, smart boy, in the lively Tokyo quarter of Ginza. A woman devoted to other people's needs, she will end by taking part herself in one of the many disguises of Ginza.

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

14 April 1951 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Ginza Cosmetics

Filming Locations:

Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ito Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

User Reviews

Affectionate, sentimental, humorous

This is a gentle, affectionate take on a middle aged bar hostess, struggling to bring up a child alone and facing financial, sexual and end of career issues, as well as the implied disapproval of society. There is plenty of humour, though, and acute observation of people and relationships in their everyday lives.

Apparently slow initially, one gets gradually drawn in to care for these essentially good characters, even the weak and slightly unreliable ones (generally men).

The set pieces of bar life are particularly well observed. And the mutual respect and simple good manners of Japanese society as depicted is always fascinating to Western eyes.

As ever with Naruse, the camera-work is so effective one is hardly conscious of it as one engages with this picture of a determined but dignified struggle by a virtuous woman.