It's also elegantly shot and scored; all that's missing is a touch of humour.
Comment
06/29/07
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960)
100
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:13
Fresh:13
Rotten:0
Average Rating:8.2/10
Theatrical Release:29-06-2007
Synopsis: A stunning drama about a ginza bar hostess as she approaches the perilous age of 30.
Starring: Hideko Takamine, Tatsuya Nakadai, Masayuki Mori, Reiko Dan
Director: Mikio Naruse
Reviews for When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
1 - 15 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
A heartbreaker.
06/29/07
Sprint, don't walk, up those BFI steps to see it.
06/29/07
Top CriticThe new retrospective of Mikio Naruse at London's BFI Southbank will do much to restore the reputation of a neglected Japanese director, and this 1960 film is a heartbreaking study, to be compared with Mizoguchi's Life of Oharu.
06/29/07
Top CriticShot in luminous black and white cinemascope, this is an exquisitely understated study of the plight of a young woman in an unforgiving society.
06/29/07
Top CriticThe money-grubbing realities of late 1950s Tokyo make for riveting viewing in Naruse's naturalistic classic. These are no ordinary memories of a geisha.
06/29/07
Top CriticPatience will be rewarded.
06/29/07
Top CriticA new classic.
06/29/07
Top CriticLustrously photographed in monochrome by Masai Tamai, this is essentially a Tokyo twist on Nights of Cabiria (1957), with Mikio Naruse and Hideko Takamine replacing Fellina and Masina's kooky optimism with a fatalistic humanism.
06/29/07
Top CriticEven a casual viewing of When a Woman Ascends the Stairs shows what a gifted humanist Naruse was.
04/26/07
Naruse creates an affecting scenario of modern Japanese society and the pitfalls a woman in such a patriarchal society must face.
07/17/06
The final close-up—featuring Keiko smiling in lieu of tears—might be frozen, framed, and subtitled "Lady Sings the Blues."
11/03/05
No review available.
08/05/05
Click to read the article
05/09/05
Top CriticClick to read the article
01/01/00
1 - 15 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Fresh Links
Featured
RT on YouTube 
Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.
RT on Twitter
Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.
IGN RSS Feeds