Top Story: 25. September 2007

Marriage Crises

Naruse Mikio's Meshi (1951) still moves with it's simple but deep story line and characters. The movie tells story of Okamotos, a married couple who have no children.

The husband Hatsunosuke (Ken Uehara) is a stock broker from Osaka, and the wife Michiyo (Setsuko Hara) is an ordinary woman from Tokyo. The times are hard, even though the husband has a steady work. Michiyo feels frustrated from continuous labour, cleaning, making dishes and all that.

More than that, she feels disappointed on what marriage life had became. The communication between her and her husband has became a seldom event.

Although they don't have children, Michiyo is constantly occupied by her job as a housewife, her own life has seemed to vanish somewhere. Her cat seems to be only thing that is her own.

The character of Hatsunosuke is a typical Japanese man, hard working man who comes late at home, and expects the dinner to be there waiting for him. He doesn't talk much with his wife. Although he is a stock broker, he doesn't invest to stock himself. When his friends offer kind comments on his new expensive shoes, she claims they were inexpensive, used shoes. It would seem that he prefers simple things over complicated ones. Stock prices go up and down.

"I am moved by the sadness to be found in the simple lives of people.. in the limitless space of the universe"
- Fumiko Hayashi

In this movie, the wife is a hero. Although the husband's role becomes more important at the end, the movie is pretty much all about the wife, who's character is well cast. Without Setsuko Hara, this movie wouldn't be the same. Her eyes look dreamy when she goes back to visit her parents in Tokyo.

"All I want is to throw myself to my mother's arms and sleep like a baby" she says, exchausted of her marriage life, longing for her life before in her parents house.

But when husband's childish niece Satoko comes for a visit, things are never going to be same again. Satoko is easygoing, childish girl who has just ran away from her home, wanting to avoid getting married. In the suburb she meets young penniless Yoshitaro who immediadetly falls in love with her. In addition when she meets the wife's cousin, she get's all in close with him, saying she wants to marry him. The wife critisizes Satoko's easygoing and care free lifestyle.

The movie portrayed the life and ideals of it's time. It was just after the war was ended, and people were happy on what they got. Nobody expected to become rich at that time, but valued the family relations and simple, peaceful life. Based on the original novel by Fumiko Hayashi, Naruse Mikio loyally directs this movie through, catching very well the original atmosphere of the novel. Kawabata Yasunari was supervising that everything would have necessary novelistic touch.

Meshi isn't serious movie like Josei no Shori (Victory of Women) was, and either this movie cannot become a similar milestone on creating an equality between women and men in Japan. Instead this is a simple story of a young couple and their marriage.

The movie was one of the participants of Showa Era Arts Festival, 1951. I can recommend this movie for everyone interested of history of Japan. And this movie has Sugimura Haruko and Hara Setsuko and Uehara Ken.

Highly recommended!

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