Late Chrysanthemums interweaves the lives of four retired geisha, Kin, Tamae, Tomi and Nobu, over a period of four successive days.
Seki, a former customer of Kin, who was sent to prison after he had attempted to kill her and commit suicide, tries to borrow money from her, but is quickly turned away.
[6] Narcissus, which inspired the episode with Tamae and Kiyoshi, has been translated by Joan E. Ericson and is included in her book Be a Woman: Hayashi Fumiko and Modern Japanese Women's Literature.
[9] Critics Heiichi Sugimoto and Shinbi Iida acknowledged the characterisation of the female protagonists, which exceeded the stereotypes of films of the time, and the performances of the principal cast (Haruko Sugimura, usually cast in supporting roles, has one of her few starring roles in this film), but faulted a lack of psychological depth compared to Hayashi's original stories.
[10][11] In his 2006 review in the Chicago Reader, Jonathan Rosenbaum titled the film a "masterpiece", pointing out its "energy and vivid portraiture".