Yearning

Yearning (1964) is one of Mikio Naruse's last films, he died in 1967, and it displays many of the traits of his "invisible" style. The hallmark is expert editing that results in a seamless narrative. It is yet another "woman's" film about a family struggling economically with their small shop against the lower cost competition of supermarkets. The family is planning to expand and build their own supermarket in order to compete. However, there is one obstacle to this plan, which is the presence of Reiko (played with the usual emotive power by Hideko Takamine), the widowed wife of the oldest son of the family. She single handedly rebuilt the store after it was bombed during the war. The only person concerned about her fate is Koji, the never-do-well youngest son who has quit his salaryman job that he got after college. He gambles and drinks every night-sometimes getting into trouble as he does in the opening of the film when Reiko bails him out and covers for him to his mother. Koji, who was seven when Reiko married his older brother, declares his love for Reiko, but she refuses it for the love of her dead husband and in order to give Koji a chance to find happiness with a younger woman. However, she admits to being pleased to hear this as a woman, which causes her to accept her fate and leave the family. It is interesting to note that the Japanese title of the film, Midareru, is closer in meaning to "disorder." This refusal leads to a tragedy later in the film, so it is darker than most Naruse films which often end on an ambiguous note.