R.I.P. Hideko Takamine

[rain Bard]

My five favorite Mikio Naruse / Hideko Takamine collaborations:

1. Floating Clouds. She's absolutely unforgettable as the unrequited lover in virtually every frame of this bleak, but affecting masterpiece. A towering performance. Available on British DVD (BFI).

2. Her Lonely Lane. How many actresses have played both the lead in a film made from an author's novel, and the author herself? Fumiko Hayashi wrote Floating Clouds, and this film based on her memoir isn't perfect but Takemine's performance as the writer during her struggling days shows she could rise to a difficult biopic. Criterion really ought to release this, as it's not on English-subbed DVD and fits perfectly in their wheelhouse.

3. When A Woman Ascends The Stairs. Heartbreaking film in which Takemine plays an aging geisha who has to seem pleasant while scheming for her own protection under the surface. She pulls off the duplicity with aplomb, while keeping the audience on her side at all times. On Criterion DVD.

4. Hideko the Bus Conductress. One of her early comedies, though its sunny disposition masks a dark undercurrent appropriate for the year it was made (1941). Takemine plays an ambitious tour guide named Okoma; it's a tribute to her super-stardom that the film's title includes her own real name, not her character's. Like the film, the role is more complex than it initially appears. Not on English-subitled DVD.

5. Flowing. Here Takemine is in an ensemble cast as the daughter of a geisha trying to get out of the family buisness while her mother struggles to keep it afloat. Proves she does not need to be center of attention to be an effective screen performer. Available on Region 2 DVD through Masters of Cinema.

[Damien]

I remember her particularly fondly from Ozu's 1951 masterpiece, The Munekata Sisters. She was a lovely screen presence.

[Precious Doll]

From Japan Today

Actress Hideko Takamine, known for her appearances in numerous movies in the 1950s and 1960s, died of lung cancer in a Tokyo hospital at 5:28 a.m. Tuesday, her attorney said Friday. She was 86.

Her husband, movie director Zenzo Matsuyama, held a funeral and memorial service for the actress on Wednesday attended by people close to her.

Born in 1924 in Hakodate, Hokkaido, Takamine made her debut in 1929 as a child actor in the movie ‘‘Haha’’ (Mother) and became a popular girl star after appearing in the 1938 film ‘‘Tsuzurikata Kyoshitsu’’ (Writing Lessons).

After World War II, she appeared in a number of movies during what is referred to as the ‘‘golden era’’ of the Japanese film industry.

Her major movies included ‘‘Niju-shi no Hitomi’’ (Twenty-four Eyes) in 1954 directed by Keisuke Kinoshita, ‘‘Ukigumo’’ (Floating Clouds) in 1955 directed by Mikio Naruse, and ‘‘Yorokobi mo kanashimi mo ikutoshitsuki’’ (The Lighthouse) in 1957 directed also by Kinoshita.

She retired from making movies in 1979.

She was also known as a witty essayist and published ‘‘Watashi no Tosei Nikki’’ (My Diary).