Repast (film)

Meshi
Japanese theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mikio Naruse
Written by	Yasunari Kawabata Toshirō Ide Sumie Tanaka Fumiko Hayashi (novel)
Produced by	Sanezumi Fujimoto
Starring	Setsuko Hara Ken Uehara Yukiko Shimazaki
Cinematography	Masao Tamai
Music by	Fumio Hayasaka
Distributed by	Toho
Release date	November 23, 1951
Running time	97 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Repast (めし, Meshi) is a 1951 film by Mikio Naruse, starring Setsuko Hara. It is set in postwar Osaka and it is about a woman who has moved from Tokyo (her father is a well-known professor) to settle down with her husband. Her salaryman husband ignores her. She is slowly being worn down by domestic drudgery. Matters come to a head when her pretty niece comes to stay and the husband begins to flirt with her. "Naruse shows brilliantly how the husband and wife cling to respectability by a thread." Dissatisfied with his efforts to improve their household life, she returns to Tokyo for a time.

Repast is the first of Naruse's adaptations from the novels by Fumiko Hayashi, a writer who specialised in stories of the downtrodden. "I am moved by the sadness to be found in the simple lives of people...", a quotation included at the beginning of the film, expresses the writer's preoccupations.

Cast

• Ken Uehara - Hatsunosuke Okamoto
• Setsuko Hara - Michiyo Okamoto
• Yukiko Shimazaki - Satoko Okamoto
• Yoko Sugi - Mitsuko Murata, Michiyo's sister-in-law
• Akiko Kazami - Seiko Tomiyasu
• Haruko Sugimura - Matsu Murata, Michiyo's mother
• Ranko Hanai - Koyoshi Dohya
• Hiroshi Nihon'yanagi - Kazuo Takenaka
• Keiju Kobayashi - Shinzo Murata, Michiyo's brother
• Akira Oizumi
• Ichiro Shimizu
• Haruo Tanaka
• So Yamamura

Awards and nominations

2nd Blue Ribbon Awards

• Won: Best Film
• Won: Best Actress - Setsuko Hara
• Won: Best Supporting Actress - Haruko Sugimura
• Won: Best Screenplay - Sumie Tanaka

External links

• Repast at IMDb
• Meshi at AllMovie
• Template:Ja icon Repast at the Japanese Movie Database