Directed by Mikio Naruse • 1954 • Japan

As one might infer from its title, Mikio Naruse’s LATE CHRYSANTHEMUMS (1954) is a very autumnal film, laced with nostalgia and sadness for its characters—Haruko Sugimura (FLOATING WEEDS, TOKYO STORY) portrays Kin, a former geisha who has parlayed her earnings at her one-time profession into work as a moneylender; but most of her clients are ex-colleagues of hers, and their lives are not what they once were, nor do any of them have much real chance for happiness. As with many of Naruse’s other films, the focus is on the limitations and gradual constriction of the lives open to women, especially as time preys on their one usual asset, their appearance.