Suggests: HFA Screening UNTAMED

Unlike many Naruse films where individuals are at the mercy of a larger ensemble and social forces outside their control, Untamed exists in thrall to its central protagonist, a force of nature played by Takamine Hideko in a performance of arresting tonal range. Takamine plays Shima, a lower-class woman of mysterious origin who realizes after a string of nosediving relationships with cruel and unremarkable men that her greatest power is her own pluckiness and resolve, at which point she dives headlong into the world of urban entrepreneurship. The results suggest what would have happened if Life of Oharu (1952) pivoted at its midpoint to become Mildred Pierce (1945). As Untamed’s episodic structure accrues domestic squabbles, sexual torments and economic setbacks, the film puts an ever-expanding rotation of male stars—including Uehara Ken, Shimura Takeshi, Kato Daisuke and Mori Masayuki—at the receiving end of Takamine’s bold and contentious performance style, resulting in a film in which the dynamism…