It's also elegantly shot and scored; all that's missing is a touch of humour.
Comment
06/29/07
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960)
100
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:13
Fresh:13
Rotten:0
Average Rating:8.2/10
Runtime: 1 hr 51 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Synopsis: A stunning drama about a ginza bar hostess as she approaches the perilous age of 30.
Starring: Hideko Takamine, Tatsuya Nakadai, Masayuki Mori, Reiko Dan
Director: Mikio Naruse
Get This Movie
Reviews for When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
1 - 15 (sorted by date)
A heartbreaker.
06/29/07
Sprint, don't walk, up those BFI steps to see it.
06/29/07
The new retrospective of Mikio Naruse at London's BFI Southbank will do much to restore the reputation of a neglected Japanese director, and this 1960 film is a heartbreaking study, to be compared with Mizoguchi's Life of Oharu.
06/29/07
Shot in luminous black and white cinemascope, this is an exquisitely understated study of the plight of a young woman in an unforgiving society.
06/29/07
The money-grubbing realities of late 1950s Tokyo make for riveting viewing in Naruse's naturalistic classic. These are no ordinary memories of a geisha.
06/29/07
Patience will be rewarded.
06/29/07
A new classic.
06/29/07
Lustrously photographed in monochrome by Masai Tamai, this is essentially a Tokyo twist on Nights of Cabiria (1957), with Mikio Naruse and Hideko Takamine replacing Fellina and Masina's kooky optimism with a fatalistic humanism.
06/29/07
Even a casual viewing of When a Woman Ascends the Stairs shows what a gifted humanist Naruse was.
04/26/07
Naruse creates an affecting scenario of modern Japanese society and the pitfalls a woman in such a patriarchal society must face.
07/17/06
The final close-up—featuring Keiko smiling in lieu of tears—might be frozen, framed, and subtitled "Lady Sings the Blues."
11/03/05
No review available.
08/05/05
Click to read the article
05/09/05
Top CriticClick to read the article
01/01/00
Top Critic1 - 15 (sorted by date)
RT On Current TV
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
Wes Anderson on Fox 
The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox
Animated Oscar?
Hollywood.com ponders whether or not an animated film could win Best Picture.
TIME's Holiday Movie Preview
Richard Corliss previews the season's best offerings and hottest tickets.
Scenic Routes
The AV Club's Mike D'Angelo airs his beefs with Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!
IGN RSS Feeds