Ukigumo (1955)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Mikio Naruse

Writers:

Fumiko Hayashi (novel)
Yôko Mizuki (adaptation)

Release Date:

6 June 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

One Word Title | Forbidden Love | Bathing | Based On Novel

Awards:

9 wins

Cast

Hideko Takamine	...	Yukiko Koda
Masayuki Mori	...	Kengo Tomioka
Mariko Okada	...	Sei Mukai
Isao Yamagata	...	Sugio Iba
Chieko Nakakita	...	Kuniko Tomioka
Daisuke Katô	...	Seikichi Mukai
Mayuri Mokusho	...	Nomiya no musume
Noriko Sengoku	...	Yakushima no okaasan
Fuyuki Murakami	...	Futsuin no shikensho-chou
Heihachiro Okawa	...	Isha
Nobuo Kaneko	...	Futsuin no shoin - Suitou
Roy James	...	American soldier (as Roi H. Jêmusu)
Kan Hayashi
Akira Tani	...	Shinja
Seijiro Onda

Also Known As:

Floating Clouds

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:12A (2005)

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

Third in the centenary poll by Kinema-Junpo magazine about all-time best Japanese films, Shichinin no samurai (1954) and Tôkyô monogatari (1953) preceded it.

Movie Connections:

References Going My Way (1944)

hard luck lady

With this film Naruse Mikio took his place in my favorite directors list. "Floating Clouds" is a masterpiece on par with any work produced by any major filmmaker, period. Hard luck Yukiko (Takamine Hideko) remembers the days of wine and romance back in Indochina but Kengo (Mori Masayuki) isn't having any of it - he's the usual unsympathetic Japanese man you find in just about every Japanese film from this era. The war is over, the survivors are back in Japan and Yukiko wants to rekindle the old flame. Her former lover Kengo accepts her back in a rather half-a***d fashion - sex, jealousy, murder and pseudo-redemption ensue.

The director's uncanny ability to sympathize with his characters as he watches them go down in flames invests the film with a warmth that counteracts the cruelty and keeps "Floating Clouds" from being insufferable in a way that, say, Antonioni's films are insufferable. Because he was so shy Naruse avoided the flashiness or the odd quirks that were trademarks of his contemporaries. At his best, in films like "Floating Clouds," he showcased a lovely if not incredibly distinct cinematic style. In anyone else's case I would mean that as something of a minor insult but I have nothing but reverence for this man. His ability to view the human situation realistically means that his films will age much better than other films of the era such as "Life of Oharu," which today seems hopelessly dated. If "Floating Clouds" isn't quite as good as my favorite Naruse film "When a Woman Ascends the Stairs," it's because it goes on just a bit too long. Regardless, it's one hell of a good movie.