Ukigumo (1955)

Note Générale:

8,1/10   

Réalisateur:

Mikio Naruse

Scénaristes:

Fumiko Hayashi (novel)
Yôko Mizuki (adaptation)

Date de sortie:

6 juin 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Drame | Romance

Plot Keywords:

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

Récompenses:

9 wins

Avis des utilisateurs:

A Nutshell Review: Floating Clouds

Ensemble

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)
Miki Hayashi
Akira Tani	...	Shinja
Seijiro Onda

Autre(s) titre(s):

Floating Clouds

Durée:

123 min

Pays:

Japan

Langue:

Japonais

Couleur:

Noir et Blanc

Rapport de forme:

1,33 : 1

Son:

Mono

Classification:

UK:12A (2005)

Société:

Toho Company

Anecdotes:

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.

Connexions:

Références Going My Way (1944)

A Nutshell Review: Floating Clouds

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.