Repast is the
first of many films by Mikio Naruse to be based on the stories of Fumiko
Hayashi, in this case on Hayashi's last unfinished novel. Repast
is a family drama set in Osaka and Tokyo shortly after the end of World
War II. Economic circumstances make life difficult for Michiyo, an Osaka
housewife played by Ozu regular Setsuko Hara in an exceptionally nuanced
performance. She has been married for five years and the dream of a better
life has faded. Her husband Hatsunosuke (Ken Uehara) has a low paying job
and her life consists only of the repetitive chores of cleaning, washing,
and cooking with no promise of a better future, a fact that she draws constant
attention to.
Michiyo is at first welcoming
when Hatsunosuke's niece Satoko (Yukiko Shimazaki) comes to visit but soon
becomes annoyed and jealous when her husband takes her on a tour of Osaka
and pays an inordinate amount of attention to her charms. When her dissatisfaction
becomes crystallized, she decides to return to Tokyo to visit her mother
(Haruko Sugimura). She is torn between wanting to find a job and remaining
separated or returning to her husband to continue with the struggle. She
writes a letter to Hatsunosuke ostensibly to say she will not return but
it is never mailed. The way her ambivalence is resolved will cause some
consternation for modern day women's rights advocates, but seems appropriate
under the circumstances and I left the theatre feeling elated.