Revered in Japan alongside the work of such masters as Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu, and Kenji Mizoguchi, the films of Mikio Naruse (1905–1969) are at last again available to Western audiences in a collaboration between AFI Silver Theatre, the Freer Gallery of Art, and the National Gallery of Art. Even though he directed the first Japanese sound film to find distribution in the United States (Wife, Be Like a Rose! 1935), Naruse remained largely unknown here throughout the sustained peak of his lengthy career. Despite championing by critics such as Susan Sontag, Phillip Lopate, and Donald Richie, it has been some twenty years since the last Naruse retrospective was held in this country.
Raised in poverty, Naruse became a director only after a long, trying apprenticeship. He specialized in shomin-geki, contemporary dramas about the poor and lower-middle classes. Naruse has been compared stylistically to his close friend Ozu and was drawn, like Mizoguchi, to stories focusing on women, but his films are tougher, edgier, and more modern than either. Kurosawa, Naruse's one-time assistant and great admirer, compared his film style to "a great river with a calm surface and a raging current in its depths."
Thanks to James Quandt, Cinematheque Ontario, the Japan Foundation, and Toho Co., Ltd., for making this touring retrospective possible. Special thanks go to Sarah Finklea, Janus Films.
Presentation of this retrospective at the Freer Gallery of Art is generously supported by Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.
Film descriptions adapted from the Cinematheque Ontario, Film Forum, and the Pacific Film Archive. Films are in Japanese with English subtitles.
Festival Venues
Meyer Auditorium, Freer Gallery of Art
Independence Avenue at 12th Street SW
Washington, DC
Metro: Smithsonian
202.357.2700
202.357.1729 TTY
http://www.asia.si.edu
Free tickets are required for films in the 300 seat Meyer Auditorium, located in the Freer Gallery. Up to two tickets per person are distributed at the auditorium one hour before show time.
AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center
8633 Colesville Road
Silver Spring, MD
Metro: Silver Spring
301.495.6700
http://www.afi.com/silver/new/
Box Office:
The Box Office is open 30 minutes before the first show of the day. The theatre is not open to the public before that time.
Online:
You can purchase tickets online for any regular show with no added fee. Tickets purchased online MUST be retrieved at the box office with the same credit card used online. The AFI Silver accepts American Express, Visa, MasterCard and Discover with no booking fee. Both advance sale, and day-of-show purchases are available online or in person. Ticket refunds are offered only in person at the box office, during the first 30 minutes of the show.
National Gallery of Art
National Mall between Third and Seventh Streets at Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC
Metro: Judiciary Square or Archives
202.842.6799
http://www.nga.gov
All programs are shown in the East Building Auditorium, 4th Street at Constitution Avenue NW. Film programs are free of charge, but seating is on a limited first-come, first-served basis. Seating for films begins approximately thirty minutes in advance of the program. To ensure a seat, please plan to arrive at least ten minutes before show time. Programs are subject to change.
