Épouse (1953)

Tokyo. Mihoko and Toichi Nakagawa's ten year marriage is crumbling out of inertia. Each knows the other isn't happy, they themselves aren't happy, but they don't talk about their problems ... See full summary »

Director:

Mikio Naruse

Writers:

Fumiko Hayashi (novel), Toshirô Ide

Stars:

Mieko Takamine, Ken Uehara, Rentarô Mikuni

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mieko Takamine	...	Mihoko Nakagawa
Ken Uehara	...	Toichi Nakagawa
Rentarô Mikuni	...	Tadashi Tanimura
Michiyo Aratama	...	Yoshimi Niemura
Sanae Takasugi	...	Setsuko Sakurai
Chieko Nakakita	...	Eiko Matsuyama
Yatsuko Tan'ami	...	Fusako Sagara
Hajime Izu	...	Hirohisa Matsuyama
Yoshiko Tsubouchi	...	Taeko Niemura
Tatsuya Ishiguro
Akira Tani
Noriko Honma
Masao Shimizu
Sadako Kimura
Eiji Koyama

Storyline

Tokyo. Mihoko and Toichi Nakagawa's ten year marriage is crumbling out of inertia. Each knows the other isn't happy, they themselves aren't happy, but they don't talk about their problems with each other, each festering in their unhappiness largely so that they will not show especially to their three boarders their problems. Mihiko in particular, old fashioned in her outlook, does not see divorce as an option, that move which would be a stigma she could not tolerate. Both are seemingly oblivious to the fact that others around them are facing similar if not worse situations, and that they themselves are largely the cause of their unhappiness. Things for their marriage get worse when Toichi starts to fall for his work colleague, widowed Fusako Sagara, who returns his affections.

---

Plot Keywords:

based on novel | 

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

29 April 1953 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Épouse

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

User Reviews

Great second half

This starts as broad if uncomfortable comedy, based on the battle of the sexes and the strains of marriage in an imperfect world full of imperfect people. Slowly, tragic themes emerge as the desperation of the characters for love and security becomes clear and their aspirations become at the expense of each other. The comedy is rather obvious, with some character clichés and crude approaches.

The tragedy is more subtle, with Ken Uehara expressing a world of feeling in a single glance. By the end of the film, the characters accept mundane reality in place of dreams though with disillusioned resignation rather than the contentment a sentimental Western film might display.

The film's style changes, too, from unsatisfying short sequences in the first half to more typical Naruse long takes by the end.