Late Chrysanthemums

Synopsis

Four retired geishas in post-war Tokyo navigate the indignities and financial anxieties of aging: the central figure has hardened into a shrewd, ruthless moneylender who fiercely guards her independence, coldly rejecting the pathetic pleas of the former lover who once attempted double-suicide with her when he asks for a financial loan. Mikio Naruse's unsentimental, clear-eyed masterpiece starring Haruko Sugimura in a career-defining performance.