Hideko Takamine, great Japanese actress, dies at 86

[Madara]

Here's the link to the obituary in today's New York Times:



http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/04/movies/0...;ref=obituaries



I discovered Ms. Takamine in late 2009 when I saw the film, CARMEN COMES HOME (1951), the very first color movie made in Japan. It's a delightful comedy about a dancer from Tokyo who makes a "triumphal" return to her mountain hometown where she's greeted as a returning heroine, except by her father who knows exactly what kind of "dancer" she is. Here are some pictures of her from the film:









But she's most famous for her work in films directed by Mikio Naruse, a great Japanese director who's not as well known outside of Japan as he should be. I saw my first Naruse film this past September, WHEN A WOMAN ASCENDS THE STAIRS (1960), and my second in December, YEARNING (1964). In the former, she plays a bar manager in the Ginza district of Tokyo and she has to put up with all sorts of responsibilities and constantly has to suppress her own desires. She wants a good man but is surrounded by weak men who always disappoint her. It's an amazing performance. The film is out on DVD (Naruse's only film available in the U.S.) and I highly recommend it. Here are some pictures from WHEN A WOMAN ASCENDS THE STAIRS:











What a great face.

[Vikitty]

I remember reading your blog entry about Carmen Comes Home, and thought she was very striking. Gorgeous.

[aine]

Never really heard of her and probably never watched any of her movies. But I may rewatch the Millennium Actress in her honour. She looked very classy. RIP.





EDIT: Hah, according to imdb she actually was one of the inspirations for Millennium Actress.

[Madara]

I just wrote about her on my blog.



I wasn't aware of the Millennium Actress connection. (I was too locked in to Setsuko Hara as the inspiration for that character to have considered Takamine.) I have to look into that and maybe watch the film again. Sad coincidence that MA's director, Satoshi Kon, preceded her in death by a few months.



P.S. I revised my blog entry to include the Millennium Actress reference.