Untamed

『あらくれ』 
Arakure

Imported 35mm Print. Naruse counted naturalist writer Shusei Tokuda among his favorite authors, adapting Tokuda’s 1915 novel, albeit with significant changes by screenwriter Yoko Mizuki (in their final collaboration), into one of his rare period dramas. Akin to Mizoguchi’s The Life of Oharu in its spanning examination of a woman’s life through ill fortune and a succession of suitors and lovers, Untamed finds Hideko Takamine in the role of boisterous, outspoken Oshima, a sharp-tongued wife-to-be who cannot and will not bend to the will of any man. Donald Richie and Joseph L. Anderson would detail Takamine’s character as a woman “who refuses to believe it is a man’s world—an almost heretical opinion in prewar Japan.” Oshima’s indomitable spirit resists every inch of the rigid and codified ways of society with the resulting performance spelling out one of Naruse’s strongest heroines.

Print courtesy of The Japan Foundation.

Dir. Mikio Naruse, 1957, 121 min., 35mm, b&w, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Hideko Takamine, Ken Uehara, Masayuki Mori. Screenplay by Yoko Mizuki.

Part of the John and Miyoko Davey Classic Film Series
Mikio Naruse: The World Betrays Us – Part I
May 9—31, 2025

© 1957 Toho Co., Ltd.

Mikio Naruse: The World Betrays Us is co-organized by Japan Society, Metrograph and the Japan Foundation, New York.

Mikio Naruse: The World Betrays Us – Part I is generously supported by The John and Miyoko Davey Endowment Fund for Classic Japanese Film.

Japan Society’s 120th anniversary initiatives and related programs are generously supported by Champion Sponsor, MUFG Bank, Ltd.; Advocate Sponsor, Mizuho Americas; and Friend Sponsor, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas).

Japan Society programs are supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Film programs are generously supported by ORIX Corporation USA, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Anime NYC and Yen Press. Endowment support is provided by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund and The John and Miyoko Davey Endowment Fund. Additional season support is provided by Ms. Miyoko U. Davey, The Globus Family, George P. Hirose, David Toberisky, Joseph Rajaratnam and Dharshini Iolanthe Sivakumaran, and Film Circle members.

Transportation assistance is provided by Japan Airlines, the official Japanese airline sponsor of Japan Society Film Program. Housing assistance is provided by the Prince Kitano New York, the official hotel sponsor of Japan Society Film Program.