Husband And Wife (1953) directed by Mikio Naruse is a part of his "marriage trilogy" with Meishi and Wife. Ken Uehara stars in all of them and is very adept at depicting the bored middle-class husband moping around reading newspapers and acting disrespectful of long-suffering women in them. The wife of Uehara (Nakahara) this film was Yoko Sugi (Kikuko), who is said to have filled in for an ill Setsuko Hara. They are having trouble finding a place to live after marriage and decide to stay with a widower colleague of Nakahara, Takemura (Rentaro Mikuni). In this set up, Takemura falls for Kikuko as Nakahara takes out office girls fro drinks and movies. Near the end of the film, the couple moves into a new apartment with the condition that no children are allowed and then is revealed that Kikuko is pregnant. Nakahara suggest it might be best if they "get rid of it." Money problems are often major concerns for characters in Naruse films and this is no exception they will not have enough money to move again in six months. This one ends on an unambiguously hopeful note-a rarity for Naruse.
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