女が階段を上る時

Thanks to Netflix and the Criterion Collection I've been watching a lot of old Japanese movies lately and I have some recommendations. I just finished 女が階段を上る時, or 'When a Woman Ascends the Stairs,' in its translation. The story involves a Ginza bar hostess in the years following World War II. She's a widow of 30 and her impeccable character makes her an anachronism in, what was then, modern Tokyo. I wouldn't normally post my thoughts on a movie from the 1960s but some idiot from Chicago posted his thoughts on IMDb and I had no one to argue with. 'Wallabee Champ' thought: "The biggest [flaw] is there's no actual drama, because the main character doesn't face any adversity. She's just a whiny woman who's upset with her lot in life, but too unmotivated to change it, and instead mopes around a lot." No. Totally wrong. I don't even know where to begin with why that statement is shit. I'm guessing that if Godzilla doesn't knock down the city, 'Wallabee Champ' won't register the adversity. The adversity in the film comes from working a job she hates (where she has to entertain and flatter people who are depraved and selfish) because its necessary, while trying to preserve her own dignity. I found that despite being a movie about a Japanese bar hostess in post-war Japan, I could totally relate to what she was living through. How do you define who you are and then preserve that in the face of modern society and its compromises?

In addition to this, I would recommend every movie directed by Kurosawa Akira (start with the more famous samurai films but don't skip Ikiru), the three films about the life of Miyamoto Musashi directed by Inagaki Hiroshi, and a bunch of other films that I'd be happy to elaborate on if anyone is interested. And a bunch of anime too.