Mother

Rather more upbeat (and at times even lighthearted) than the transcendentally tragic melodramas he is best known for, Mikio Naruse’s bittersweet family portrait features a quietly masterful performance from Kinuyo Tanaka (who later became a great director in her own right) as a fiercely resourceful mother in postwar Japan weathering everyday hardships as she works to provide a decent life for her four children. Told from the point of view of the family’s teenage daughter (Kyoko Kagawa), MOTHER offers a convincingly realistic evocation of a young woman’s perspective as she experiences joy and heartbreak in equal measure.