A Woman’s Uphill Slope follows the fortunes of Akie (Mariko Okada), a young woman who visits Kyoto after inheriting a shop that sells traditional sweets. Fascinated by the shop’s traditions, she abandons her plans to open a tailor shop and decides to stay. She soon falls in love with a married painter, Saburo Yaoi (Keiji Sada), who turns out to be her mother’s former lover.

Director Kōzaburō Yoshimura, a contemporary of Akira Kurosawa, explores the female experience in post-war Japan through his films. Many are set in Kyoto, serving as the backdrop for his artistic portrayal of industries on the verge of decline in a time of rapid modernisation.

This film was shot by Yoshio Miyajima—nicknamed the ‘Emperor of Cinematography’ and known for his work for Masaki Kobayashi—and features a bold combination of traditional and modern colours, classical architecture, and an avant-garde soundtrack by Toshiro Mayuzumi. Mariko Okada’s performance, portraying the life of an independent woman in post-war Japan, is a highlight of this star-studded masterpiece.

The screening on 5 January will be followed by a talk in Cantonese with film critic and classical music critic William Lau moderated by Li Cheuk-to, M+ Curator-at-large of Hong Kong Film and Media.

Kōzaburō Yoshimura (Japanese, 1911–2000) started his film career working as an assistant director for Yasujirō Ozu and Yasujirō Shimazu. His first major work, The Ball at the Anjo House (1947), starring Setsuko Hara, marked the beginning of a long relationship with screenwriter and director Kaneto Shindo, with whom he founded the independent production company Kindai Eiga Kyōkai. His other notable films include Clothes of Deception (1951), Night River (1956), An Osaka Story (1957), and Bamboo Doll of Echizen (1963).