A single mother works tirelessly as a Ginza bar hostess to ensure a better life for her young son in Naruse’s formally ravishing drama about the desperation of daily living.
This film is not currently playing on MUBI but 30 other great films are. See what’s now showing
The most successful of Naruse’s extant silent works, a slow-building film that pays off with a powerful ending. Scripted by Ozu regular Tadao Ikeda from Naruse’s story, EVERY NIGHT DREAMS has an elegant narrative strategy that is not far removed from the complexity of Naruse’s better-known 50s period.
This film is a funny one. It has its moments, and those moments really come in the middle of the film, but sometimes they didn't find the punch that they needed for it to really work. I was moved overall, and I liked Naruse's direction, but it didn't feel as great as Apart From You. 4/5
a very different Naruse in a stylistic level, with a flamboyant and expressive camera work. Always conveying a sense of emotional shock that brings lessons to Eisenstein.
great graphic matches, mirror work, disorienting blurs, quick cuts, symbolic flourishes, framing... in other words fun camerawork and while the ending rode on another bedside scene... by diverting the story we arrived somewhere more interesting, more nuanced
I can probably credit Naruse for inventing the ensemble film: even the supporting characters here get their moments, and the "leads" seem to move in and out of the center. However, unlike "Apart from You," this one feels like two different parts that do not quite come together for me. The dancehall scenes and the father-son stuff was great, but the ending seemed cheap and unconvincing to me.
Devastating, tragic, but somehow uplifting, this story of a young mother trying to provide for her son is melodramatic with a great visual flair by Naruse.
I find this a quietly brilliant film. The excellent use of chiaroscuro and symbols make it very enjoyable. A realist masterpiece depicting hardship and the importance of family. The score by Nitin Sawhney has added another dimension to it.