Directed by Mikio Naruse
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Criterion Eclipse)
Convoluted family drama about a Japanese movie star who returns home from Hollywood to claim a child she abandoned years earlier. The little girl has been raised by her father's new wife, who refuses to give her up. So the wealthy actress kidnaps the kid and tries to force her love on her. Obviously this does not work out, but it takes the whole movie for her to make that realization. Comedy relief by some thugs who look like they came out of a Warner gangster movie does not work. Naruse uses a zoom technique, called a "truck-in" to a character close-up, to underscore dramatic moments, but after about the tenth time it loses its effectiveness.
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