Film: ‘Flowing (Naruse Mikio)’

Introduced by Jeff Purdue Flowing features one of the most remarkable casts ever assembled. The three leads, Takamine Hideko, Tanaka Kinuyo, and Isuzu Yamada are perhaps the greatest actors in Japanese film history and each headlined numerous films on their own, while the strong supporting cast includes veterans and up and comers. Additionally, the film features Kurishima Sumiko, who was one of the first female actors in Japan and who during the 1920s was its biggest star. Naruse brings his sympathetic, but unsentimental approach to a story of a geisha house that is facing closure. The drama plays out in quiet conversations and muted glances, with the occasional outburst, demonstrating what Kurosawa said about Naruse’s style: “like a great river with a calm surface and a raging current in its depths.” The opening and closing scenes of the film play without dialog and are tour de forces of pure cinema. A must see!