Wife! Be Like a Rose!

『妻よ薔薇のやうに』 
Tsuma Yo Bara No Youni

Imported 35mm Print. The first Japanese talkie to be screened in New York—and one of the earliest Japanese films to be theatrically released in the United States—Wife! played for one week in April of 1937 under the title Kimiko. An early masterpiece from Naruse which gained widespread success, Naruse’s third P.C.L. production is a playful comedy starring his wife-to-be Sachiko Chiba (the pair would marry in 1937 before divorcing in 1940) as the witty modern girl Kimiko. A well-dressed, middle class girl preparing for marriage, Kimiko embarks on a journey to retrieve her estranged father who left behind her poet mother some 15 years earlier. Beyond its light tone and unexpected focus on bourgeoisie types, a subject matter Naruse did not feel comfortable with, also of note was the film’s experimental nature. Critic Dave Kehr would characterize the ending as “an explosion of cinematic self-consciousness that would not recur in a narrative film until the arrival of the French New Wave.”

Print courtesy of The Japan Foundation.

Dir. Mikio Naruse, 1935, 74 min., 35mm, b&w, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Sachiko Chiba, Heihachiro Okawa, Yuriko Hanabusa.

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

© 1935 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.