WHEN A WOMAN ASCENDS THE
STAIRS aka ONNA GA KAIDAN O AGARU TOKI

Year: 1960
UK: BFI Distribution
Cast: Hideko Takamine, Masayuki Mori, Reiko Dan, Tatsuya Nakadai, Daisuke KatO, Ganjiro Nakamura, EitarO Ozawa, Keiko Awaji
Director: Mikio Naruse
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese (English subtitles)
UK: 110 mins
UK Certificate: PG Contains mild sex references
UK Release Date: 29 June 2007 (Limited Release)
UK Distributor

Synopsis

Directed by the late Japanese filmmaker Mikio Naruse, WHEN A WOMAN ASCENDS THE STAIRS is being re-released on a new print and stars Hideko Takamine as Keiko Yashiro, a widow who is trying to support her family with a job as an ageing Tokyo hostess in the sleazy bar district of the Ginza.

Amid dreams of opening her own bar, Keiko 'ascends the stairs' nightly to make a living from the clients she courts. She tries to maintain some dignity and remains standoffish from their advances, trying to stay focussed on her ultimate objective...