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THE CINEMA OF NARUSE MIKIO: Women and Japanese Modernity. By Catherine Russell. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2008. xviii, 465pp. (BäfW photos.) US$27.95, paper. ISBN 978-0-8223-4312-7.
No one ever receives much recognition for coming in fourth. It is usually the top three who garner the most attention and accolades. In terms of Japanese classical cinema, Kurosawa Akira, Mizoguchi Kenji and Ozu Yasujiro are the three auteurs who are usually recognized as the preeminent classical directors. As such, they have all received extensive academic attention in the West. So who was number four? The name most frequently listed as the fourth greatest director is Naruse Mikio. Perhaps because he has been ranked fourth, Western scholars and critics have mostly overlooked Naruse's work, despite the fact that the 89 films he directed over 37 years exemplify Japanese classical cinema. In The Cinema of Naruse Mikio, the first in-depth English language study of Naruse Mikio and his films, Catherine Russell brilliantly brings the auteur and his...