Mikio Naruse, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Mikio Naruse

film director

Date of Birth: 20-Aug-1905

Place of Birth: Tokyo, Japan

Date of Death: 02-Jul-1969

Profession: screenwriter, writer, film director, film producer

Nationality: Japan

Zodiac Sign: Leo

Mikio Naruse (?? ???, Naruse Mikio, August 20, 1905 – July 2, 1969) was a Japanese filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer who directed some 89 films spanning the period 1930 (towards the end of the silent period in Japan) to 1967. Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook.
He made primarily shomin-geki (working-class drama) films with female protagonists, portrayed by actresses such as Hideko Takamine, Kinuyo Tanaka, and Setsuko Hara.
Because of his focus on family drama and the intersection of traditional and modern Japanese culture, his films are frequently compared with the works of Yasujiro Ozu.
His reputation is just behind Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi, and Ozu in Japan and internationally; his work remains less well known outside Japan than theirs. Among Naruse's most revered films are Late Chrysanthemums (1954), Floating Clouds (1955), and When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960).
Akira Kurosawa referred to Naruse's style of melodrama as "like a great river with a calm surface and a raging current in its depths".