Contents
Mikio Naruse
Directing Floating Clouds and When a Woman Ascends the Stairs, dramas of women’s lives and economic pressure.
Floating Clouds · Flowing
- Born
- 20 August 1905
- Birthplace
- Tokyo, Japan
- Died
- 2 July 1969
More people
Mikio Naruse
Mikio Naruse made intimate films about ordinary people whose options are narrowed by money, family and social expectation. His quiet style gives small gestures considerable weight.
Early life
Tokyo childhood
Lost his parents young and was raised with support from his siblings.
Studio apprenticeship
Entered Shochiku in a junior studio role before working as an assistant director.
Career
- 1930
Directing debut
Made the short Mr. and Mrs. Swordplay.
- 1934–1935
Studio move
Left Shochiku for P.C.L., later part of Toho, and made Wife! Be Like a Rose!
- 1950s
Mature dramas
Developed acclaimed literary adaptations and films with Hideko Takamine.
- 1967
Final feature
Completed Scattered Clouds.
Selected work
Floating Clouds
A wartime relationship persists in an unforgiving postwar world.
Flowing
Women in a geisha house face debts and a changing society.
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
A bar hostess weighs independence against financial survival.
Beyond work
Marriage
Was married to actor Sachiko Chiba, who appeared in Wife! Be Like a Rose!
Literary interests
Repeatedly adapted the writing of Fumiko Hayashi.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗BFI: filmmaker retrospective ↗Photo: Unknown author Unknown author. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
