Flowing

A trio of Japan’s finest actresses—Kinuyo Tanaka, Isuzu Yamada, and Hideko Takamine—stars in this revealing picture of traditional geishas facing the decline of their way of life and the specter of prostitution in the mid-1950s. Under the watchful gaze of a maid (Tanaka), Tsutayakko (Yamada), the proud mistress of the house, goes about trying to save it from becoming either a restaurant or a brothel. Here everything is a financial transaction. The atmosphere of togetherness among the women all living under one roof, the comings and goings in the alleyway, the gorgeous compositions in which everyone watches everyone’s back—all is illusory.