★ 5 / 10
Sudden Rain (Shūu) is a 1956 Japanese comedy-drama
Virgo V
Sudden Rain (Shūu) is a 1956 Japanese comedy-drama film directed by Mikio Naruse. It is based on a play by Kunio Kishida. It stars Setsuko Hara and Shūji Sano.…
Sudden Rain (Shūu) is a 1956 Japanese comedy-drama film directed by Mikio Naruse. It is based on a play by Kunio Kishida. It stars Setsuko Hara and Shūji Sano. It was distributed and produced by Toho Company, Limited.
Vision wrote: “I didn’t understand the premise. Over done and underrated. The music wasn’t immersive. Piano was used throughout the film without any tragic events. I guess you gotta watch the film until the end to find out. The film was very bleak indeed, except Setsuko Hara’s performance, which stood out for the most part. Two and a half fries!”
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★ 7 / 10
Unfortunately, the print I saw had subpar English
william d
Unfortunately, the print I saw had subpar English subtitles, so I'm sure I missed a lot of the dialogue's nuance. Still, I enjoyed the film. While not…
Unfortunately, the print I saw had subpar English subtitles, so I'm sure I missed a lot of the dialogue's nuance. Still, I enjoyed the film. While not laugh-out-loud funny there were many scenes that put a smile on my face. And the dramatic parts will ring true for anyone who has been married for any length of time.
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★ 8 / 10
“Sudden Rain” Fumiko (Setsuko Hara) and Ryotaro (Shuji
Robin C
“Sudden Rain” Fumiko (Setsuko Hara) and Ryotaro (Shuji Sano) have been married for years and their life is in a rut. He likes movies, she does not. She likes…
“Sudden Rain”
Fumiko (Setsuko Hara) and Ryotaro (Shuji Sano) have been married for years and their life is in a rut. He likes movies, she does not. She likes to stay at home, he does not. When a pretty young neighbor and her new husband move in next door, Ryotaro makes it obvious he is attracted to her in “Sudden Rain.”
This 1956 film by Mikio Naruse is an almost humorous look at a 1950s marriage in contemporary (at the time) Japan. The couple has been “married a long time” according to him – it has been four years. They have become set in their ways with him burying his face in the newspaper and she pays attention only to her knitting.
One day, Fumiko’s newly-married niece, Ayako (Kyoko Kagawa), drops buy to tell her auntie that she is getting a divorce. She says that her husband is an ill-mannered lout who just wants to sleep or stay out with friends until dawn. Auntie consoles the young woman. Then, Ryotaro comes home from work and, of course, mansplains to the young woman how her husband’s behavior is easily explained and is harmless.
This sets the stage showing the conflict in the older couple’s marriage as they go their separate ways in their day to day life. He, a salesman, is facing a company merger and the threat of layoffs. She sort of adopts a stray dog who roams freely and causes trouble – which she is blamed for. Then, there are the new neighbors.
Ryotaro loves going to the movies and their very pretty young neighbor, Hinako (Akemi Negishi), does too. They make a date and we come to find out that he has a wandering eye and his wife knows it. But, the merger looms large and he is told to take a severance deal or it is just bye-bye from his employer.
This leads to an interlude where his friends and colleagues propose opening a classy restaurant. Ryotaro just needs to invest in the venture. Then, one of the men suggests that Fumiko would be perfect to become the front of house hostess. He reacts as if he was slapped in the face and is adamantly against the idea. She, though, is flattered.
Naruse gives us a unique look at married life in post-war Japan that is serous and, at times, whimsical with subtle humor. I particularly like the character arc Setsuko Hara gives Fumiko. In a society that was highly patriarchal – in other words, it is a man’s world – she proves to be his equal, standing up for herself and her feelings. He, on the other hand, is a misogynist (as the culture dictated at the time) and pretty much stays the same – until the mirthful ending.
It is nice to go back in film history and culture and get a view into another world very different from our own. I think that is one reason, in many, why I love movies. “Sudden Rain” is a good example of that view.
B+
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