#35
Japan | 97 min.
1.33:1
black & white
monaural
Special Features
New progressive transfer from a brand-new Toho film restoration
Illustrated audio discussion with Kent Jones and Phillip Lopate
New and improved optional English subtitles
A 184-page book featuring the writing of Audie Bock, Phillip Lopate, and Catherine Russell accompanies this box set
Only available as part of NARUSE: VOLUME ONE box set:
Catalogue
Repast
Mikio Naruse, 1951
In many of his most successful films, Naruse depicted common people, living their lives. With Repast the director set his characters to the task of navigating their way amidst a pungent atmosphere of fading love. Set shortly after World War II, Repast is about a struggling marriage between salaryman Hatsunosuke (Ken Uehara) and his wife Michiyo (Setsuko Hara). It focuses on the emotional crisis of the bored housewife. The tedium of her domestic life – consumed by repetitive tasks such as cooking and cleaning – is brought into focus by a visit from Hatsunosuke’s niece, Satoko (Yukiko Shimazaki). Satoko’s arrival, and the amount of attention Hatsunosuke devotes to her charms, leads to further unhappiness for Michiyo, who is forced to confront her future. In the hands of master director Naruse, this adaptation of an unfinished novel by Fumiko Hayashi offers a fascinating exploration of married life, from the habitual routine of everyday existence to the hope for a better tomorrow that may or may not keep such relationships alive.
