Mikio Naruse
Film director
Died when: 63 years 316 days (766 months)Star Sign: Leo
Mikio Naruse (?? ???, Naruse Mikio, 20 August 1905 – 2 July 1969) was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 89 films spanning the period 1930 to 1967.Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook.
He made primarily shomin-geki ("common people drama") films with female protagonists, portrayed by actresses such as Hideko Takamine, Kinuyo Tanaka, and Setsuko Hara.
Because of his focus on family drama and the intersection of traditional and modern Japanese culture, his films have been compared with the works of Yasujiro Ozu.
Many of his films in his later career were adaptations of the works of acknowledged Japanese writers.Titled a "major figure of Japan's golden age" and "supremely intelligent dramatist", he remains lesser known than his contemporaries Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi, and Ozu.
Among his most noted films are Sound of the Mountain, Late Chrysanthemums, Floating Clouds and When A Woman Ascends The Stairs.
