When a Woman Ascends the Stairs - Film Screening

Part of our film series 'A Brief Introduction to Japanese Cinema'. 

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (Mikio Naruse, 1960)

Famed for his great work with actresses, Mikio Naruse draws a superb performance from his long-time collaborator Hideko Takamine. In this, one of Naruse’s most admired films, she plays a widowed bar-hostess in her 30s facing a stark choice between a marriage of convenience or opening her own establishment. This is a heartbreaking melodrama about a woman’s struggle to survive in a male-dominated society.

Course fee includes screening, introductory lecture and tea/coffee

James Ballands BA MA PhD

Term: Spring

Day: Saturday

Start Date: 16 March 2019 

Time: 9.15am-12pm

No. of weeks: 1

Full fee: £11

Venue: City Screen Picturehouse in York

Booking are being taken now for the full series. Tickets for individual films are available at:

2 March 2019 Rashomon

9 March 2019 Tokyo Story

23 March 2019 Woman of the Dunes