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From one bar to another, hostess Keiko (Takamine Hideko) seeks out patronage to support her family and fund her dream of having her own bar. Her mastery of flattery and affected coldness fall short as protection against men who corner her with bills, debts and other deceptive gestures disguised as care. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs remains one of Naruse's most renowned films, celebrated for Takamine's superbly controlled performance and for its black-and-white cinematography—which, with Mayuzumi Toshiro's jazz score and Takamine's voiceover narration, invokes a noir-adjacent sensibility. – Kelley Dong

Directed by Naruse Mikio.
With Takamine Hideko, Nakadai Tatsuya, Mori Masayuki.
Japan, 1960, 35mm, black & white, 111 min.
Japanese with English subtitles.
Print source: The Japan Foundation

Harvard Film Archive Floating Clouds... The Cinema of Naruse Mikio film series co-presented by the Japan Foundation and co-sponsored by the Reischauer Institute