{{Short description|1954 Japanese film}} {{use dmy dates|date=July 2023}} {{Distinguish|The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums}} {{Infobox film | name = Late Chrysanthemums | native_name = {{Infobox Japanese| kanji = 晩菊}} | image = Late Chrysanthemums film Theatrical release poster (1954-2).jpg | caption = | director = Mikio Naruse | producer = Sanezumi Fujimoto | writer = {{ubl|Sumie Tanaka|(screenplay)|Fumiko Hayashi|(short stories)}} | starring = {{ubl|Haruko Sugimura|Chikako Hosokawa|Yūko Mochizuki|Sadako Sawamura}} | music = Ichirō Saitō | cinematography = Masao Tamai | editing = Eiji Ooi | studio = Toho | distributor = Toho | released = {{film date|1954|06|22|Japan|df=y|ref1=<ref name="kinenote">{{cite web |url=http://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=24050 |title=晩菊 (Late Chrysanthemums) |publisher=Kinenote |language=ja |access-date=8 July 2023}}</ref><ref name="galbraith">{{cite book|title=The Toho Studios Story |last=Galbraith IV |first=Stuart |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2008 |page=102 |isbn=9780810860049}}</ref>}} | runtime = 101 minutes | country = Japan | language = Japanese }} {{nihongo|'''''Late Chrysanthemums'''''|晩菊|Bangiku}} is a 1954 Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse and starring Haruko Sugimura, Chikako Hosokawa, Yūko Mochizuki and Sadako Sawamura. It was written by Sumie Tanaka, based on three short stories by Fumiko Hayashi, and follows four retired geisha and their struggles to persevere in post World War II Tokyo.<ref name="kinenote" /><ref name="galbraith" />
==Plot== ''Late Chrysanthemums'' interweaves the lives of four retired geisha, Kin, Tamae, Tomi and Nobu, over a period of four successive days. Kin is a moneylender and a merciless businesswoman, who is insistent upon being repaid by her former geisha sisters Tamae, Tomi and Nobu. Her financial advisor Itaya tries to convince her to buy land in the countryside, as prices are constantly rising.
Tamae and Tomi, both widows, live together. Tamae is plagued by migraines, and as a result, unable to work as frequently as she would like to as a maid in a hotel. She is also unhappy with her son Kiyoshi's relationship with an older mistress, who pays him for being at her service. Tomi is unable to repay her debts as a result of her addiction to gambling. She laments her daughter Sachiko's upcoming marriage to an older man and tries to persuade her against it. Nobu runs a restaurant with her husband, which is frequented by the other women.
Seki, a former customer of Kin, who was sent to prison after he had attempted to kill her and commit suicide, tries to borrow money from her, but is quickly turned away. Kin becomes excited though when she hears that ex-soldier Tabe, her former patron and lover, is returning. To her disappointment, Tabe wants to borrow her money as well. She rejects his request and burns his photograph to erase all remaining memories.
Tamae and Tomi are eventually left alone when Kiyoshi leaves for Hokkaido for a job and Sachiko moves in with her future husband. Kin hears from Nobu that Seki was arrested for a money-related crime, but shrugs it off. She enters the train with Itaya to inspect property in the countryside which she considers buying.
==Cast== * Haruko Sugimura as Kin * Chikako Hosokawa as Tamae * Yūko Mochizuki as Tomi * Sadako Sawamura as Nobu * Ken Uehara as Tabe * Hiroshi Koizumi as Kiyoshi * Ineko Arima as Sachiko * Bontarō Miake as Seki * Sonosuke Sawamura as Sentarō * Daisuke Katō as Itaya
==Literary source== ''Late Chrysanthemums'' is based on Fumiko Hayashi's short stories ''Bangiku'' (''Late Chrysanthemum'', 1948), ''Shirasagi'' (1949) and ''Suisen'' (''Narcissus'', 1949).<ref>{{cite book|title=The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film |editor-last=Goble |editor-first=Alan |location=London, Melbourne, Munich, New Providence |publisher=Bowker-Saur |year=1999 |isbn=978-1 8573-9229-6}}</ref><ref name="Fujiki-Phillips">{{cite book |last= |first= |editor-last2=Phillips | editor-first2=Alastair |editor-last1=Fujiki | editor-first1=Hideaki |date=2020 |title=Japanese Cinema: Texts and Contexts |location=London and New York |publisher=The British Film Institute/Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-8445-7679-1}}</ref> The story ''Bangiku'', on which the episode about the character Kin is based,<ref>{{cite book|title=Japanese Women Writers: A Bio-critical Sourcebook |editor-last=Mulhern |editor-first=Chieko Irie |location=Westport and London |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-3132-5486-4}}</ref> has been translated into English by Lane Dunlop and is available in the anthology ''A Late Chrysanthemum: Twenty-One Stories from the Japanese''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2020/08/01/books/book-reviews/a-late-chrysanthemum/ |title='A Late Chrysanthemum': A short story collection full of pathos and maturity |last=Mansfield |first=Stephen |publisher=The Japan Times |date=August 1, 2020 |access-date=January 21, 2021}}</ref> ''Narcissus'', which inspired the episode with Tamae and Kiyoshi, has been translated by Joan E. Ericson and is included in her book ''Be a Woman: Hayashi Fumiko and Modern Japanese Women's Literature''.<ref name="ericson">{{cite book|title=Be a Woman: Hayashi Fumiko and Modern Japanese Women's Literature |publisher=University of Hawai'i Press |location=Honolulu |isbn=9780824818845 |last1=Ericson |first1=Joan E. |date=1997}}</ref>
==Reception== ''Late Chrysanthemums'' ranked #7 in ''Kinema Junpo''{{'}}s list of the ten best Japanese films of 1954,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kinenote.com/main/award/kinejun/y1954.aspx |title=キネマ旬報ベスト・テン 1954年・第28回 |website=Kinenote |language=ja |access-date=8 July 2023}}</ref> but also met with reservations.<ref name="russell">{{cite book |last=Russell |first=Catherine |date=2008 |title=The Cinema of Naruse Mikio: Women and Japanese Modernity |location=Durham and London |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-4290-8}}</ref> Critics Heiichi Sugimoto and Shinbi Iida acknowledged the characterisation of the female protagonists, which exceeded the stereotypes of films of the time, and the performances of the principal cast (Haruko Sugimura, usually cast in supporting roles, has one of her few starring roles in this film), but faulted a lack of psychological depth compared to Hayashi's original stories.<ref name="russell" />
In retrospect, ''Late Chrysanthemums'' is often considered one of Naruse's finest works.<ref name="rosenbaum">{{cite news|url=https://chicagoreader.com/film/geishas-without-diaries/ |title=Geishas Without Diaries |last=Rosenbaum |first=Jonathan |newspaper=Chicago Reader |date=23 February 2006 |access-date=8 July 2023}}</ref><ref name="bampfa">{{cite web|url=https://bampfa.org/event/late-chrysanthemums-bangiku |title=Late Chrysanthemums (Bangiku) |website=BAMPFA |date=22 December 2014 |access-date=8 July 2023}}</ref> In his 2006 review in the ''Chicago Reader'', Jonathan Rosenbaum titled the film a "masterpiece", pointing out its "energy and vivid portraiture".<ref name="rosenbaum" /> Keith Uhlich of ''Slant'' magazine awarded the film a full four stars and called it "Naruse's most perfect film".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/late-chrysanthemums |title=Late Chrysanthemums – Film Review |last=Uhlich |first=Keith |publisher=Slant Magazine |date=March 1, 2006 |access-date=January 25, 2016}}</ref>
==Awards== * Blue Ribbon Award for Best Supporting Actress Yūko Mochizuki<ref name=cinemahochi1954>{{Cite web |url=http://cinemahochi.yomiuri.co.jp/b_award/1954/ |title=1954 Blue Ribbon Awards |access-date= 2020-12-31|language= ja|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207075514/http://cinemahochi.yomiuri.co.jp/b_award/1954/ |archive-date=2009-02-07}}</ref>
==Legacy== ''Late Chrysanthemums'' was screened at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive in 1985,<ref name="bampfa" /> the Museum of Modern Art in 1985,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.moma.org/momaorg/shared/pdfs/docs/press_archives/6228/releases/MOMA_1985_0082_79.pdf |title=Mikio Naruse: A Master of the Japanese cinema – Opens at MoMA September 23 |website=Museum of Modern Art |access-date=8 July 2023}}</ref> the Harvard Film Archive in 2005<ref>{{cite web|url=https://harvardfilmarchive.org/calendar/late-chrysanthemums-2005-10 |title=Late Chrysanthemums |website=Harvard Film Archive |date=7 October 2005 |access-date=21 July 2023}}</ref> and the Gene Siskel Film Center in 2006.<ref name="rosenbaum" />
==Home media== ''Late Chrysanthemums'' was released on DVD by the British Film Institute in 2007 and by Toho in 2021.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{jmdb title|1954|cd001670|Late Chrysanthemums}} * {{IMDb title|0046750}}
{{Mikio Naruse}}
Category:1954 films Category:1954 drama films Category:Japanese drama films Category:1954 Japanese-language films Category:Japanese black-and-white films Category:Films based on short fiction Category:Films based on works by Fumiko Hayashi Category:Films set in Japan Category:Films directed by Mikio Naruse Category:Toho films Category:Films about geisha Category:Films produced by Sanezumi Fujimoto Category:Films scored by Ichirō Saitō Category:Films based on multiple works Category:1954 Japanese films Category:Japanese-language drama films