Late Chrysanthemums

One of Mikio Naruse’s most compelling character studies is a portrait of four aging geishas who contemplate the harsh loneliness of their lives and the ongoing instability in their relationships with men and money. At the center is Kin, whose visits to her former friends to collect money they owe her occasion wicked humor and rueful memories. In a fascinating narrative structure, we get two films for the price of one: the past, vividly recalled in dialogue, unfolds like a lurid melodrama. The present is terse, ruthless, and anticlimactic. “I don’t like men or movies,” says Kin. “I just watch my money move around.”