As a Wife, As a Woman

As a Wife, As a Woman
As a Wife, As a Woman
Japanese	妻として女として
Directed by	Mikio Naruse
Written by	Toshirō Ide; Zenzō Matsuyama;
Produced by	Sanezumi Fujimoto; Hidehisa Suga;
Starring	Hideko Takamine; Masayuki Mori; Chikage Awashima;
Cinematography	Jun Yasumoto
Edited by	Eiji Ooi
Music by	Ichirō Saitō
Production; company	Toho
Distributed by	Toho
Release date	May 30, 1961;
Running time	106 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

As a Wife, As a Woman a.k.a. The Other Woman and Poignant Story (妻として女として, Tsuma to shite onna to shite) is a 1961 Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse.^[3]^[4]

Plot[]

Miho, mistress of married professor Keijiro, has been managing the Ginza bar owned by him and his wife Ayako for years, hoping that some day she might be made the owner as appreciation for her efforts. Instead, Ayako mortgages the bar for a new acquisition, leading to a conflict between the women. Keijiro avoids taking sides, continuing his affair with Miho. Encouraged by friends, Miho hires lawyer Minami to claim a severance pay. When her hope to win the case fades, she decides to fight for custody of Keijiro's children Hiroko and Susumu, who are her natural children, raised by Keijiro and the infertile Ayako as their own. In a final confrontation between Keijiro, Ayako and Miho, the children learn that Miho, who had always been introduced to them as their aunt, is their true mother. Hiroko scolds the adults for their insincerity, refusing to get involved in their schemes. Some time later, Hiroko has moved in with a student friend, disappointed with her parents. Miho, compensated with a small sum, plans to open a street food shop, while Ayako contemplates a divorce.

Cast[]

Hideko Takamine as Miho Nishigaki
Masayuki Mori as Keijiro Kouno
Chikage Awashima as Ayako Kouno
Yuriko Hoshi as Hiroko Kouno
Kenzaburō Ōsawa as Susumu Kouno
Tatsuya Nakadai as Minami
Chōko Iida as Nishigaki Shino, Miho's grandmother
Keiko Awaji as Fukuko

Production and release[]

The screenplay for As a Wife, As a Woman was inspired by an actual court case.^[4] The film was released in Japan on May 30th 1961 and in the U.S. in a subtitled version in March 1962.^[3] It was presented again in the U.S. as part of a 25 films Naruse retrospective in 1985, organised by the Kawakita Memorial Film Institute and film scholar Audie Bock.^[5]

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "妻として女として (As a Wife, As a Woman)". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 22 February 2021.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "妻として女として (As a Wife, As a Woman)". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 22 February 2021.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Lanham, Toronto, Plymouth: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-6004-9.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Russell, Catherine (2008). The Cinema of Naruse Mikio: Women and Japanese Modernity. Durham and London: Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-4290-8.
^ "Mikio Naruse: a master of the Japanese cinema". CineFiles. Retrieved 21 July 2021.

External links[]

As a Wife, As a Woman at IMDb

[jmdb-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b "妻として女として (As a Wife, As a Woman)". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 22 February 2021.

[kinenote-2] Jump up to: ^a ^b "妻として女として (As a Wife, As a Woman)". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 22 February 2021.

[Galbraith-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Lanham, Toronto, Plymouth: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-6004-9.

[Russell-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b Russell, Catherine (2008). The Cinema of Naruse Mikio: Women and Japanese Modernity. Durham and London: Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-4290-8.

[5] "Mikio Naruse: a master of the Japanese cinema". CineFiles. Retrieved 21 July 2021.

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