01
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
Why this pick
Naruse again centers a poised woman negotiating economic pressure and social expectations, with the same restrained emotional force and quietly observant Tokyo milieu.
A FILM WORTH A CLOSER LOOKTHE FEATURE PRESENTATION
MOVIE1960 2h 3m JPN
IF THIS ONE STAYED WITH YOU
Movies like
Daughters, Wives and a Mother
Drama
CINEHUNCH / THE NEXT FRAME
Keep the feeling.
SIMILAR PICKS / A PERSONAL CONNECTION
If you loved Daughters, Wives and a Mother, try these.
01
02
Yearning
Why this pick
Its delicate attention to a widow’s precarious place within a family business extends Naruse’s compassionate, unsentimental view of duty, money, and unspoken feeling.
03
Late Chrysanthemums
Why this pick
A finely textured Naruse ensemble about independent women facing old ties and financial realities; its emotional drama remains understated, precise, and deeply humane.
04
Flowing
Why this pick
This women-centered household drama shares the pleasure of watching social bonds, livelihood, and generational change emerge through everyday routines rather than plot-heavy confrontations.
05
The Inheritance
Why this pick
A colder, more acerbic counterpart: bereavement and wealth expose family opportunism, rendered with controlled compositions and a sharp eye for social performance.
Finding the atmosphere, tension and little details that made this one stay with you.
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01 / THE STORY
A little about the film.
This film features a large extended family (and associates) even more extensive than the one portrayed by Ozu in "End of Summer". The central character is Setsuko Hara -- a poised middle-aged woman, whose wealthy (and prestigious) husband dies at the outset of the action, leaving her widowed but holding the proceeds of a million yen insurance policy. Being childless, her former in-laws have no objection to her return to her own family.
02 / FACES IN THE FRAME
The people who bring it to life.
Aiko Mimasu
坂西あき（母）
Masayuki Mori
坂西勇一郎（長男）
Hideko Takamine
坂西和子（妻）
Takashi Matsuoka
坂西義郎（勇一郎の子）
Reiko Dan
坂西春子（三女）
Setsuko Hara
（曽我）早苗（長女）
Mitsuko Kusabue
谷薫（二女）
Hiroshi Koizumi
谷英隆（薫の夫）