
Ten years into a marriage, the wife is disappointed by the husband's lack of financial success, meaning she has to work and can't treat herself and the husband finds the wife slovenly and mean-spirited: she neither cooks not cleans particularly well and is generally disagreeable. In turn, he alternately ignores her and treats her as a servant. Neither is particularly happy, not helped by their unsatisfactory lodgers. The husband is easily seduced by an ex-colleague, a widow with a small child who needs some security, and considers leaving his wife.
Directed by Mikio Naruse, Wife leans on a strong ensemble — Mieko Takamine, Ken Uehara, Rentaro Mikuni — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.
The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 1953.
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In the weekend after thanksgiving 1973 the Hood family is skidding out of control. Then an ice storm hits, the worst in a century.
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