★ 7 / 10
With Japan on it’s knees following the end
CinemaSerf
With Japan on it’s knees following the end of the Second World War, “Yukiko” (Hideko Takamine) is struggling to find meaning in her life. She had had a fling…
With Japan on it’s knees following the end of the Second World War, “Yukiko” (Hideko Takamine) is struggling to find meaning in her life. She had had a fling with the married “Tomioka” (Masayuki Mori) but when he had been despatched to work for the forestry service in Annam, she assumed that was that. Well no, as it happens, for she is also posted there as a typist and so they pick up where they left off. Whilst perhaps not a sense of happiness, there is contentedness for “Yukiko” until returning to Japan, she soon realises that not only can they never truly be together but that he has most definitely got a wandering eye. To be fair to him, she also seeks solace elsewhere and for a while has an GI in tow, but ultimately she only has eyes for her “Tomioka”. With neither of them having any money most of the time, and him being the unreliable type, what chance they can make anything of this uniquely mistrusting and dysfunctional arrangement when he is offered a job as a ranger on a remote island? Now this is a slowly paced melodrama that does contrive to include just about every post-war scenario from homelessness, poverty, rape, pregnancy and betrayal into it’s two hours, but both lead actors bring a credible poignancy to their performances as they try to thrive against their own flawed characteristics in a nation in ruin and where women had little, if any, status. The photography, the never ending rain, and the prevailing sense of bleakness contribute strongly and the one thing you can be certain of is that their's is a journey unlikely to end in the light.
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★ 7 / 10
A Nutshell Review: Floating Clouds
DICK STEEL
If you're looking for a movie that deals with clingy relationships, then Floating Clouds is without a doubt a movie that fits the bill to a T. Directed by…
If you're looking for a movie that deals with clingy relationships, then Floating Clouds is without a doubt a movie that fits the bill to a T. Directed by Naruse Mikio and based upon the novel by Fumiko Hayashi, the female character in the movie will bring back memories of those who have had to deal with such stifling clinging, and well, for those who do act as such, a stark and accurate portrayal that would be akin to holding up a mirror and looking at oneself.
Hideko Takamine put up a commendable, if not personally what I deem as a remarkably irritating performance as Yukiko Koda, a woman perhaps with little self-esteem and respect, who decided to sacrifice an entire forest for one singular tree. Being sent to Indochina during WWII, she chances upon Kengo Tomioka (Masayuki Mori), and while he seemed to be prim and proper, and not giving her a second glance, soon they fall in love with each other, one despite having a wife back home, and the other, knowingly being the other woman.
But when the war ends and they get repatriated back to Japan, she looks him up, only to discover that he will not leave his wife, nor to rekindle their passion started in a foreign land. To make things worse, she discovers he's quite the cad, and to compound the problem, her insecurities and her paranoia makes you wonder why she can't afford to sever ties. It's one thing being made to suffer from unrequited love, but it's another if you are made to suffer deliberately, and bear witness to the insincerity of the other party. Running slightly over 2 hours, it does take its time to showcase the sorry state that Yukiko undergoes.
You can't really find fault with Naruse Mikio's direction of the movie - the handling of the narrative structure in the first act was deft, with the transition of time seamless, and the actors do their job to allow you to connect with their characters. However, like I mentioned, perhaps Yukiko Koda did such a fine job, that for me I found her to be a tad too irritating, even for my liking.
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83%
AUDIENCE
· 500 ratings
7.6/10
3.7K
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