Naruse: Late Chrysanthemums (Bangiku) May 4, 2006

Thu, May 4 at 6:50, 9:15pm(1954) 101min One of Naruse?s greatest works according to many critics, this bleak, compelling portrait of a quartet of aging geishas?the ?late chrysanthemums? of the title?focuses on the crass and cynical Kin, who lives alone with her deaf-mute maid. Rarely has Naruse?s insistence on financial matters been so insistent; money is central to his vision of the trammeled lives of his fading, grasping geishas, their wayward children, and feckless lovers. Life is not just disappointing, as it is in Ozu, but injurious. This is one of Naruse?s most poignant films.

Official Website: http://www.bam.org/film/series.aspx?id=80