Morning's Tree-Lined Street

"It's actually good that you can still feel scared."

Morning’s Tree Lined Street has been called a romantic fantasy. This is Naruse Mikio we’re talking about and when it came to how men treated women he rarely wore rose colored glasses.

At the age of twenty-two, old maid Chiyo travels from her rural home to Tokyo to find employment. She moves in with her friend, Hisako, who works at a low rent bar as a hostess. Jobs are hard to come by, especially for a woman as old as Chiyo. Eventually, she begins work as a hostess. Salaryman Ogawa takes a liking to her and comes in most nights requesting her company. Chiyo begins to have romantic fantasies about the man who spends his time and disposable income at their club.

I won’t spoil the fantasy element of the film which was foreshadowed in a conversation Chiyo had with Hisako earlier in the story. Chiba Sachiko gave a charming performance as the country girl trying to make it in the big city. Chiyo may have been shocked at some of the things she saw happening in Tokyo, but she was also savvy enough to know who she was and where to draw the line. She dallied for a time with a romantic dream, yet in the end she woke up and made the wisest choice for herself. I was concerned with the direction of the film at one point but Naruse didn’t let me down in the end.

30 June 2025
Trigger warning: Suicide. There was the discussion of double suicides on two separate occasions.

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