Japan 325 and Comp Lit 315: The Films of Naruse Mikio

Professor Ted Mack
Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:30-1:20 MLR 316

Naruse Mikio (1905-1969), along with Ozu Yasujirō, Kurosawa Akira, and Mizoguchi Kenji, was one of the great directors working in Japanese cinema, though he is less known in the United States than these peers. Born into straightened circumstances, Naruse remained focused on the plight of the disadvantaged in modern Japanese society, with a particular concern for the challenges faced by women in a patriarchal society. Rather than rendering them helpless victims, Naruse created some of the most complex and resilient female characters found in modern Japanese film.

Even as we focus on the director of these films, we will also be examining the performances of the actors who frequently appeared in them, including Takamine Hideko, Tanaka Kinuyo, Hara Setsuko,Uehara Ken, Kayama Yûzô, Kagawa Kyôko, Katô Daisuke, Mori Masayuki, Sugimura Haruko, and Yamada Isuzu. We will also consider one author, Hayashi Fumiko, whose novels became the bases for a number of Naruse’s films. We will begin with the 1931 silent film, “Flunky, Work Hard,” and continue through to his final film, “Scattered Clouds” (1967).

No knowledge of Japanese is required; all films are subtitled in English.

For their reference, students might consider purchasing Catherine Russell's recent book, The Cinema of Naruse Mikio: Women and Japanese Modernity (Duke University Press, 2008), though the text is not required for the course.

Students are expected to watch the films and complete the readings on their own prior to class discussion.

All of the films you will be responsible for are available through Hulu Plus, which is a for-profit website that is not affiliated with the University of Washington. Note that Hulu Plus has a free trial period of one week. Some of the films are also held by the Media Center in Suzzallo Library.

Comp Lit 315 may be used for the national cinema requirement for the Cinema Studies degree in the Department of Comparative Literature. Please contact that department for more information.

The following schedule is tentative and subject to change.
Reading assignments may be added during the quarter as necessary.

The Criterion Collection has valuable information about Naruse on their website.

Additional resources: