{"product_id":"when-a-woman-ascends-the-stairs-onna-ga-kaidan-o-agaru-toki-by-professor-catherine-russell-9781839026430","title":"When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (Onna ga kaidan o agaru toki)","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMikio Naruse's \u003ci\u003eWhen a Woman Ascends the Stairs\u003c\/i\u003e (1960) combines high melodrama with modernist film language, telling the story of Keiko, a bar hostess struggling to succeed in Tokyo's Ginza district.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCatherine Russell's study of the film provides an in-depth analysis of Naruse's distinctive filmmaking, from his use of two-shots in confined spaces, unique lighting techniques, and his \"invisible\" and \"rhythmic\" editing style. She analyses the recurring motif of a woman’s white-stockinged feet climbing stairs, considering how this symbolizes the social dynamics of the high-class Japanese sex industry that sustains hostess bar culture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRussell goes on to argue that the film is a \u003cem\u003e“late”\u003c\/em\u003e woman’s film which engages with the institutional barriers to a woman’s success in postwar Japan. She situates the film within the trajectory of Naruse's career and analyses how his social critique is balanced with an aestheticization of a harsh and brutally gendered world, creating an affective tension that is symptomatic of Naruse's own position as an industrial worker.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PTY Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47428445372652,"sku":"9781839026430","price":29.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781839026430.jpg?v=1774496662","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/products\/when-a-woman-ascends-the-stairs-onna-ga-kaidan-o-agaru-toki-by-professor-catherine-russell-9781839026430","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}