It's a movie about retired geishas. Some, like Haruko Sugimura, have saved their money, have no children, and are enjoying -- if that's the word -- a second career as a moneylender and real estate speculator. Some, like Yûko Mochizuki have not. None of them seem particularly happy.

Mikio Naruse has avoided his usual tale of women falling victim to changes in Japan. Instead, he and his frequent director of photography, Masao Tamai, have adopted a scheme of blocking for this movie that is far flashier, less standard for its era, than their usual collaborations. Miss Sugimura's house is all shoji and framing panels. Where she controls the geometry, she controls the situation. Even in her other scenes, she is still in similar geometry, and still in charge. It's only in the final scene,in open space that she stumbles. The other women manage all right. There seems to be a clear message that they can choose to hide where it is safe, or face up to the world.

It's an unusually optimistic viewpoint for Naruse, but not, of course, without its pitfalls. The world is still out there. Predatory men are still out there. Sometimes, however, you need to laugh at it anyway. It won't make a difference, but it will make you feel better.

An engaging little movie that explores the life of a middle-aged Japanese woman, a former Geisha who now works as a moneylender for a living. The film explores both her position in society and the lives of other former Geishas now struggling to make ends meet in a then-modern world and a society which is dominated by men.

LATE CHRYSANTHEMUMS is a talky, dialogue-based movie but I found myself caught up in the lives of the characters involved. Despite the lack of action and incident it's never boring, and director Mikio Naruse elicits some fine acting from his principal cast members. Certainly not a film for all tastes then, but one for those who like their drama carefully cultivated and mature.

A look at three geishas who are way past their prime. Now they look back on their pasts with fondness and bemoan their present. Kin (played by Floating Weeds' Haruko Sugimura) has sworn off men and has made a good living as a moneylender; everyone on the block owes her. The other two, Nobu and Tamae, wish they could land husbands, but are not foolish enough to believe they ever will. Meanwhile, their children - one has a son and one a daughter - are both about to get married (not to each other). Tamae is irked at how much prettier her daughter has become than her, and bitterly tries to convince her not to marry the man. Nobu's concerns about her son are more legitimate in nature, but they are also (understandably) self-serving. After her son leaves, she'll be alone. A bit into the film, two of Kin's former clients come looking for her, one a man so obsessed with her that he tried to get her to commit double suicide with him, the other one of her handsomest clients. Unfortunately, he comes for her money, not her love. The way I've described the film makes it sound unrelentingly depressing, but it's really not. Sad, but not fatally so. It's more bittersweet. Unfortunately, I only marginally liked Late Chrysanthemums. The story seems better when I look back on it, but it is very slow and dull. I actually nodded off twice during the film, and I wasn't at all tired before I started it. This is the kind of film that I can appreciate more than like; it reminds me very much of my reaction to a couple of Ozu's more famous films. 7/10.