The Careful Face

The owner of a bar finds her normal, relatively pleasant life slowly pulling her towards her ultimate fate in 1951's Ginza Cosmetics (銀座化粧). The English title makes it sound like it's about a cosmetics department in a department store yet it is a literal translation. Funny old thing, language is. Anyway, Kinuya Tanaka stars as a widowed mother trying to maintain good relationships in the community while financially keeping her head above water. Directed by Mikio Naruse, it's another of his many brilliant films that quietly but undeniably reveal the tragedies of normal life.

Yukiko (Tanaka) runs a bar and acts as a hostess along with several women working for her. The job of such hostesses in Japan extends to maintaining friendships with patrons. When we meet Yukiko, she's in her room, applying her makeup, while a nervous man offers his profuse thanks. But just as we're thinking she may have slept with him for money, he asks if he can borrow some money from her.

She's caught between a rock and a hard place. Maintaining good relationships is integral to maintaining a good reputation, and maintaining a good reputation is essential for the success fo her business. She nearly faces disaster in a later scene when she can't resist crying, "Thief!" when she spots a man who didn't pay his bill at the bar. Immediately she clearly regrets it and, after taking his money, tries to quietly flee while he tries to make a scene amid the gathering crowd.

Yukiko is forced to rely on the hope that she'll meet a truly generous man who's willing to support her and her son. It's a little similar to Naruse's later film, When a Woman Ascends the Stairs. Ginza Cosmetics is not quite as complex or emotionally effective but it's still a good little slice of quiet despair. Ranko Hanai and Kyoko Kagawa are very good in supporting roles.

Ginza Cosmetics is available on The Criterion Channel.

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