Ginza Cosmetics
Italy is usually cited as the anchor of the neo-realist movement in cinema, but Mikio Naruse’s Ginza Cosmetics (1951) is a reminder that Japan had its own output equally rooted in realism. Set in Tokyo’s Ginza district, this low-key, lyrical unassuming account of a few days in the life of a luckless geisha (Kinuyo Tanaka), as she struggles to make a living for herself and her young son, has few dramatic highs or artificial moments, but possesses a startlingly vivid power in its slice-of-life texture.
Genre: Drama
Director: Mikio Naruse, Teruo Ishii
Actors: Eijirō Tōno, Eijirō Yanagi, Haruo Tanaka, Kinuyo Tanaka, Kyōko Kagawa, Masao Mishima, Ranko Hanai, Yoshihiro Nishikubo, Yoshio Kosugi, Yûji Hori