War 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 plan to convert their small shop into a supermarket, to her detriment.
Acting
Hideko Takamine's face holds entire novels.
Direction
Naruse's static frames suffocate with politeness.
Writing
Every line of dialogue avoids what characters mean.
Director
Mikio Naruse
Hideko Takamine
Reiko Morita
Yūzō Kayama
Koji Morita
Mitsuko Kusabue
Hisako Morizono
Mie Hama
Ruriko
Aiko Mimasu
Shizu Morita
Yū Fujiki
Mr. Nomizo
Kazuo Kitamura
Mr. Morizono
Hisao Toake
Mr. Okamoro
Kumeko Urabe
Bar Madam
Kan Yanagiya
Mr. Kaga
Yutaka Sada
Mr. Murata
Yutaka Nakayama
Yumi Shirakawa
Takako Morita
Chieko Nakakita
Mrs. Kaga
Gen Shimizu
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Hideko Takamine was Naruse's muse for 17 films; this was their final collaboration.
The supermarket invasion mirrored 1960s Japan's rapid economic transformation — Reiko's tragedy is national.
JP
