Husband and Wife (film)

Husband and Wife
Japanese 夫婦
Directed by Mikio Naruse
Produced by Sanezumi Fujimoto
Written by Toshiro Ide
Yoko Mizuki
Music by Ichirō Saitō
Production
company
Release dates
  • 22 January 1953 (1953-01-22)
Running time
 87 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese

Husband and Wife (夫婦 Fufu) is a Japanese film directed by Mikio Naruse released in 1953. Like other Naruse films from this period, such as Repast and Wife, the theme of Husband and Wife involves a couple trapped with each other.[1] Ken Uehara and Yôko Sugi star as the titular husband and wife.[2][3] Mikuni Rentaro portrays a widower with whom the couple move in due to economic circumstances.[2][3] The film deals with the difficulties that ensue when both the wife and the landlord find themselves attracted to each other.[2] Towards the end of the film, the couple contemplates getting an abortion to help alleviate their financial distress.[3][4]

Reception

Slant Magazine critic Keith Uhlrich awarded Husband and Wife 3.5/4 stars, describing it as a "what if" scenario, specifically, "what if Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton were locked together in a room and forced to fight over Mary Pickford?"[2] At one point during the film the trio attends a re-enactment of a Chaplin comedy routine.[2][5] According to Uhlrich, the movies's theme is the journey towards "reconciliation of those contradictions inherent to being human."[2] It is one of several Naruse films in which a character is forced to "redefine themselves and test their strength."[5]

Like some other Naruse films, Husband and Wife includes a scene on a rooftop, which film critic Chris Fujiwara interprets as evoking the character's desire "to seek the widest possible view, the greatest distance."[5]

References

  1. ↑ Richie, D. (2012). A Hundred Years of Japanese Film. Kodansha. p. 126. ISBN 9781568364391.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Uhlich, K. (November 6, 2005). "Husband and Wife". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2015-04-03.
  3. 1 2 3 Russell, C. (2008). The Cinema of Naruse Mikio: Women and Japanese Modernity. Duke University Press. pp. 248–249. ISBN 9780822388685.
  4. ↑ "Mikio Naruse: A Master of the Japanese Cinema". Berkeley University. Retrieved 2015-04-03.
  5. 1 2 3 Fujiwara, C. "Mikio Naruse: The Other Women and The View from the Outside". Film Comment. Retrieved 2015-04-03.
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