Mariko Tsutsui Masters the Art of Quiet Roles

One of the most celebrated actors of her generation, Mariko Tsutsui began her film and television career in the mid-1990s and has since accumulated hundreds of credits to her name. Her international breakthrough, however, was in Koji Fukada’s 2016 dysfunctional family drama “Harmonium,” in which she played a fervently religious woman in a troubled marriage who becomes dangerously attracted to her husband’s ex-con friend, portrayed with queasy menace by Tadanobu Asano. The film won the jury prize in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival, while Tsutsui received a best actress prize at the Mainichi Film Awards among other acting accolades.