When a Woman Ascends the Stairs

Original title: 女が階段を上る時

111 minutes • 1960 • 8.0 Score

Keiko, whom everyone calls Mama, narrates her story: she's a hostess on the Ginza, 30, a widow. She describes life's vicious cycle: acting cheerful around drunks, dressing and living well to convey confidence, needing money for these expenses and for her demanding mother and brother, and knowing she's growing older.

Mikio Naruse

Director