A Woman's Life

A Woman's Life

1963 · 126 min · ★ 7.1 · Drama

A woman remembers her own marriage when dealing with the love life of her son.

Directed by Mikio Naruse · Written by Ryōzō Kasahara

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Rent or Buy

Amazon Video

Cast

Make it a double feature

3h 44m together

A Woman's Life

Yearning

Both from Mikio Naruse.

More from Mikio NaruseSee all →

YearningYearning · 1964
Yearning
8.11964
MovieDramaRomance
War widow Reiko rebuilds and runs the grocery shop in the house of her husband's family. Many years later, their business is threatened by a newly built supermarket and Reiko's in-laws plan to convert their small shop into a supermarket, to her detriment.
When a Woman Ascends the StairsWhen a Woman Ascends the Stairs · 1960
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
8.01960
MovieDrama
Keiko, whom everyone calls Mama, narrates her story: she's a hostess on the Ginza, 30, a widow. She describes life's vicious cycle: acting cheerful around drunks, dressing and living well to convey confidence, needing money for these expenses and for her demanding mother and brother, and knowing she's growing older.
Two in the ShadowTwo in the Shadow · 1967
Two in the Shadow
7.81967
MovieRomanceDrama
A man is involved in a fatal car accident, and though he is blameless, his company transfers him to a remote branch in a small town. Before he leaves, he gives the man's widow a large sum of money that she uses to move back to her hometown.
Floating CloudsFloating Clouds · 1955
Floating Clouds
7.71955
MovieDramaRomance
A married Japanese forester during WWII is sent to Indochina to manage forests. He meets a young Japanese typist and promises to leave his wife. He doesn't and after the war, she turns up and the affair resumes.
Summer CloudsSummer Clouds · 1958
Summer Clouds
7.71958
MovieDrama
A war widow with a young boy manages a farm with her bossy mother-in-law. When a reporter comes to interview her, the two begin an affair. He turns out to be married and won't leave his wife. Her older brother tries to marry off his children and hang on to/ extend his farm through an advantageous marriage in the face of threatened land confiscation and the desire of his children to get comfortable urban jobs instead of the backbreaking work in the paddy fields under parental control.
Untamed WomanUntamed Woman · 1957
Untamed Woman
7.51957
MovieDrama
A woman marries, gives birth to a stillborn child, and divorces, falls in love with a hotel-keeper, only to find herself subordinated to his drive for success, takes up with a tailor who cannot console himself with her strong personality.
Sound of the MountainSound of the Mountain · 1954
Sound of the Mountain
7.41954
MovieDrama
An ingratiating bride develops warm ties to her father-in-law while her cold husband blithely slights her for another woman.
The Stranger Within a WomanThe Stranger Within a Woman · 1966
The Stranger Within a Woman
7.41966
MovieCrimeDrama
Tashiro coincidentally meets his best friend Sugimoto in a bar very close to the apartment in which Sugimoto’s wayward wife is found dead. Although Tashiro is not a suspect in the police investigation, he is racked with guilt and confesses to his wife, Masako. In an effort to further relieve his tortured sense of guilt, he then confesses to Sugimoto. Neither his wife nor his friend can believe that he could have been involved.
Daughters, Wives and a MotherDaughters, Wives and a Mother · 1960
Daughters, Wives and a Mother
7.31960
MovieDrama
Sanae is left a widow after her prestigious husband dies, but holds the proceeds of a million yen insurance policy. Being childless, her former in-laws have no objection to her return to her own family.
LightningLightning · 1952
Lightning
7.31952
MovieDrama
The story of Kiyoko, a young woman who has successfully managed to make a break with her dysfunctional family who have been trying to arrange a marriage for her with a disagreeable man whom she has rejected.
Late ChrysanthemumsLate Chrysanthemums · 1954
Late Chrysanthemums
7.21954
MovieDrama
What is the life of a Geisha like once her beauty has faded and she has retired? Kin has saved, and become a wealthy money-lender, spending her days coldly collecting debts. Even her best friends, fellow Geisha Tomi, Nobu, and Tamae, are now indebted to her. For all of them, the glamour of their young lives has passed; Tomi and Tamae have disappointing children. Kin has two former lovers who still pursue her; one she wants to see, and the other she doesn't. But even the one she remembers fondly, when he shows up, proves less than satisfactory.
FlowingFlowing · 1956
Flowing
7.21956
MovieDrama
Otsuta is running the geisha house Tsuta in Tokyo. Her business is heavily in debt. Her daughter Katsuyo doesn't see any future in her mother's trade in the late days of geisha. But Otsuta will not give up. This film portrays the day time life of geisha when not entertaining customers.
The Wiser AgeThe Wiser Age · 1962
The Wiser Age
7.21962
MovieDrama
Drama about the lives of the five daughters and daughter-in-law of a store owner.
WifeWife · 1953
Wife
7.21953
MovieDrama
Ten years into a marriage, the wife is disappointed by the husband's lack of financial success, meaning she has to work and can't treat herself and the husband finds the wife slovenly and mean-spirited: she neither cooks not cleans particularly well and is generally disagreeable. In turn, he alternately ignores her and treats her as a servant. Neither is particularly happy, not helped by their unsatisfactory lodgers. The husband is easily seduced by an ex-colleague, a widow with a small child who needs some security, and considers leaving his wife.
Apart from YouApart from You · 1933
Apart from You
7.01933
MovieDrama
An aging geisha, whose angry teenage son is ashamed of her profession, works alongside a young geisha, resentful of her family for forcing her into a life of ignominy.
MotherMother · 1952
Mother
7.01952
MovieDrama
A teenaged girl witnesses her widowed mother's attempt to sustain her family.

More Like This

Come Out FightingCome Out Fighting · 2023
Come Out Fighting
4.52023
MovieWarDrama
In WWII, a squad of U.S. African-American soldiers are sent on a rescue mission behind enemy lines to locate their lost commanding officer and a downed fighter pilot.
Surviving PicassoSurviving Picasso · 1996
Surviving Picasso
5.81996
MovieDramaRomance
The passionate Merchant-Ivory drama tells the story of Francoise Gilot, the only lover of Pablo Picasso who was strong enough to withstand his ferocious cruelty and move on with her life.
FatelessFateless · 2005
Fateless
6.92005
MovieWarDrama
A Hungarian youth comes of age at Buchenwald during World War II. György Köves is 14, the son of a merchant who's sent to a forced labor camp. After his father's departure, György gets a job at a brickyard; his bus is stopped and its Jewish occupants sent to camps. There, György find camaraderie, suffering, cruelty, illness, and death. He hears advice on preserving one's dignity and self-esteem. He discovers hatred. If he does survive and returns to Budapest, what will he find? What is natural; what is it to be a Jew? Sepia, black and white, and color alternate to shade the mood.
Operation FinaleOperation Finale · 2018
Operation Finale
6.72018
MovieDramaHistory
In 1960, a team of Israeli secret agents is deployed to find Adolf Eichmann, the infamous Nazi architect of the Holocaust, supposedly hidden in Argentina, and get him to Israel to be judged.
The Long Voyage HomeThe Long Voyage Home · 1940
The Long Voyage Home
6.61940
MovieDramaWar
The crew of the merchant ship Glencairn hope to survive a transatlantic crossing during World War II. Adapted from four Eugene O'Neill one-act plays.
The Six Triple EightThe Six Triple Eight · 2024
The Six Triple Eight
7.62024
MovieDramaWar
During World War II, the US Army's only all-Black, all-women battalion takes on an impossible mission: sorting through a three-year backlog of 17 million pieces of mail that hadn't been delivered to American soldiers and finish within six months.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter