An Inn at Osaka (1954)

This film begins with an executive for an insurance company by the name of "Mr. Mita" (Shuji Sano) being demoted and reassigned from Tokyo to Osaka due to an altercation with his boss. Realizing that he must live within his means his first priority upon arriving in Osaka is to find an inexpensive place to live and by chance finds a cheap hotel which suits his needs. Although a quiet person by nature who enjoys his privacy he soon gets to know the residents and employees there at the hotel quite well. It's also at this time that he is introduced to a geisha named "Uwabami" (Nobuko Otawa) who becomes quite anamored with him and does everything she can to get him to reciprocate her attention. Unfortunately, this turns out to be an extremely difficult endeavor due to his inability to fully contend with the pain and suffering from those all around him. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a rather sad and depressing film which depicted the hardship of those struggling to make ends meet in post-war Japan. A bit too sad and depressing in my mind. In any case, while I cannot honestly say that I enjoyed it that much, I can recommend it to those viewers interested in a film of this type and have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.