Movies Like When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960)

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs is a 1960 drama film from Mikio Naruse with a MovieMagicScore of 7.9/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Always - Sunset on Third Street and Always: Sunset on Third Street 2.

Drama

Always - Sunset on Third Street

2005

Teenage Mutsuko comes to Tokyo for work but ends up at a repair shop. She befriends the owner's family. Neighbors Hiromi, writer Chagawa with admirer Junnosuke strive alongside them in postwar Tokyo's evolution.

7.6

MagicScore

Always: Sunset on Third Street 2

2007

Would-be writer Ryunosuke Chagawa is still living across the street from Norifumi Suzuki and his auto repair shop, though now he shares his home with Junnosuke, an orphan he's taken under his wing at the urging of pretty Hiroi, who continues to manage a nearby tavern. Chagawa dreams of publishing a successful novel and settling down with Hiroi and Junnosuke, but his day job running the candy store keeps him busy, and Hiroi mistakes his tight schedule for a lack of interest in her. Hiroi has also embarked on a secret career as a burlesque dancer, which isn't doing much to improve her opinion of men. At the Suzuki household, seven-year-old Ippei isn't happy to be sharing the house with a guest, his distant cousin Mika who is the same age but far more demanding. Mutsuko, the apprentice female auto mechanic, is still staying with the Suzukis, and she's becomes the object of the affections of Takeo, a downbeat young man who is studying cooking.

6.9

MagicScore

Tokyo Story

1953

The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi, a doctor, and their daughter, Shige, a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko, the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company.

8.1

MagicScore

An Autumn Afternoon

1962

Shuhei Hirayama is a widower with a 24-year-old daughter. Gradually, he comes to realize that she should not be obliged to look after him for the rest of his life, so he arranges a marriage for her.

7.8

MagicScore

The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice

1952

The arranged marriage between a capricious woman from Tokyo high society and a quiet and rustic man is tested by a marital crisis.

7.6

MagicScore

Asakusa Kid

2021

Before he hit it big, Takeshi Kitano got his start apprenticing with comedy legend Fukami of Asakusa. But as his star rises, his mentor's declines.

7.2

MagicScore

Late Chrysanthemums

1954

With delicate, unobtrusive strokes, Naruse evokes both the humor and bitterness of his characters’ dilemmas, in this bleak, compelling poignant portrait of a quartet of aging geishas contemplating their troubles with men and money.

7.3

MagicScore

Record of a Tenement Gentleman

1947

An errant salaryman's son gets lost until a man from the Tokyo tenements brings him to vendor Tane, who's reluctant to let the kid board.

7.2

MagicScore

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

2022

A 1950s London cleaning lady falls in love with an haute couture dress by Christian Dior and decides to gamble everything for the sake of this folly.

7.3

MagicScore

#10

Driving Miss Daisy

1989

The story of an old Jewish widow named Daisy Werthan and her relationship with her black chauffeur, Hoke. From an initial mere work relationship grew in 25 years a strong friendship between the two very different characters, in a time when those types of relationships were shunned.

7.2

MagicScore

#11

The Reflecting Skin

1990

In 1950s rural Idaho, a young boy watches helplessly as his friends and brother fall under the spell of a mysterious widow living up the road and becomes convinced that she is a vampire.

6.7

MagicScore

#12

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

1955

A widowed doctor of both Chinese and European descent falls in love with a married American correspondent in Hong Kong during China's Communist revolution.

6.0

MagicScore

#13

Varan

1958

When a rare species of butterfly is found in a mysterious valley in Japan, a pair of entomologists go to investigate and find more. They discover Varan, a giant monster, who decides to leave the valley and head straight for Tokyo.

5.7

MagicScore

#14

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark

1988

Arriving in the small town of Fallwell, Massachusetts to claim her inheritance, horror hostess Elvira receives a less than enthusiastic reception from the conservative locals, including her sinister uncle Vincent.

6.7

MagicScore

#15

The Bachelor

1955

Paolo Anselmi is a happily single man. He lives in a flat with a friend but is forced to leave when the friend gets married. He then goes to a boarding house where he flirts with a girl but ditches her when she proposes marriage. When he goes and visits his mother he finds out that she is also trying to find the right girl for him. Is he going to surrender this time?

6.4

MagicScore

#16

Waiting...

2005

Employees at a Bennigan's-like restaurant (called, creatively enough, Shenanigan's), kill time before their real lives get started. But while they wait, they'll have to deal with picky customers who want their steak cooked to order and enthusiastic managers who want to build the perfect wait staff. Luckily, these employees have effective revenge tactics.

6.2

MagicScore

#17

Terror in the Aisles

1984

A non-stop roller coaster ride through the scariest moments of the greatest terror films of all time.

6.1

MagicScore

#18

High and Low

1963

A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.

8.4

MagicScore

#19

Late Spring

1949

Noriko is perfectly happy living at home with her widowed father, Shukichi, and has no plans to marry -- that is, until her aunt Masa convinces Shukichi that unless he marries off his 27-year-old daughter soon, she will likely remain alone for the rest of her life. When Noriko resists Masa's matchmaking, Shukichi is forced to deceive his daughter and sacrifice his own happiness to do what he believes is right.

8.0

MagicScore

#20

In This Corner of the World

2016

Japan, 1943, during World War II. Young Suzu leaves her village near Hiroshima to marry and live with her in-laws in Kure, a military harbor. Her creativity to overcome deprivation quickly makes her indispensable at home. Inhabited by an ancestral wisdom, Suzu impregnates the simple gestures of everyday life with poetry and beauty. The many hardships, the loss of loved ones, the frequent air raids of the enemy, nothing alters her enthusiasm…

7.9

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like When a Woman Ascends the Stairs?

The top films similar to When a Woman Ascends the Stairs by MovieMagicScore are Always - Sunset on Third Street (7.6), Always: Sunset on Third Street 2 (6.9), Tokyo Story (8.1). Each shares drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is When a Woman Ascends the Stairs worth watching?

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.9/10 from 121 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is When a Woman Ascends the Stairs?

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960) is a drama film directed by Mikio Naruse, starring Hideko Takamine, Masayuki Mori, Reiko Dan.

Where can I find more recommendations like When a Woman Ascends the Stairs?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more drama recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Always - Sunset on Third Street Movies like Always: Sunset on Third Street 2 Movies like Tokyo Story Movies like An Autumn Afternoon Movies like The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice Movies like Asakusa Kid

About movies like When a Woman Ascends the Stairs

This ranked list pairs When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960), a drama film from Mikio Naruse, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Hideko Takamine take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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