Husband and Wife (film)

Husband and Wife (夫婦, Fūfu) is a Japanese film directed by Mikio Naruse released in 1953. Like other Naruse films from this period, such as Repast and Wife, the theme of Husband and Wife involves a couple trapped with each other.[1] Ken Uehara and Yoko Sugi star as the titular husband and wife.[2][3] Rentarō Mikuni portrays a widower with whom the couple move in due to economic circumstances.[2][3] The film deals with the difficulties that ensue when both the wife and the landlord find themselves attracted to each other.[2] Towards the end of the film, the couple contemplates getting an abortion to help alleviate their financial distress.[3][4]

Husband and Wife
Mariko Okada (left) and Yoko Sugi.
Japanese夫婦
Directed byMikio Naruse
Produced bySanezumi Fujimoto
Written byToshirō Ide
Yoko Mizuki
Music byIchirō Saitō
Production
company
Release date
  • 22 January 1953 (1953-01-22)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Reception

Slant Magazine critic Keith Uhlrich awarded Husband and Wife 3.5/4 stars, describing it as a "what if" scenario, specifically, "what if Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton were locked together in a room and forced to fight over Mary Pickford?"[2] At one point during the film the trio attends a re-enactment of a Chaplin comedy routine.[2][5] According to Uhlrich, the movies's theme is the journey towards "reconciliation of those contradictions inherent to being human."[2] It is one of several Naruse films in which a character is forced to "redefine themselves and test their strength."[5]

Like some other Naruse films, Husband and Wife includes a scene on a rooftop, which film critic Chris Fujiwara interprets as evoking the character's desire "to seek the widest possible view, the greatest distance."[5]

References
  1. Richie, D. (2012). A Hundred Years of Japanese Film. Kodansha. p. 126. ISBN 9781568364391.
  2. Uhlich, K. (November 6, 2005). "Husband and Wife". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2015-04-03.
  3. Russell, C. (2008). The Cinema of Naruse Mikio: Women and Japanese Modernity. Duke University Press. pp. 248–249. ISBN 9780822388685.
  4. "Mikio Naruse: A Master of the Japanese Cinema". Berkeley University. Archived from the original on 2015-04-10. Retrieved 2015-04-03.
  5. Fujiwara, C. "Mikio Naruse: The Other Women and The View from the Outside". Film Comment. Retrieved 2015-04-03.
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