Scattered Clouds

Scattered Clouds
Scattered Clouds
Japanese	乱れ雲
Directed by	Mikio Naruse
Written by	Nobuo Yamada
Produced by	Sanezumi Fujimoto; Masakatsu Kaneko;
Starring	Yōko Tsukasa; Yūzō Kayama;
Cinematography	Yuzuru Aizawa
Edited by	Eiji Ooi
Music by	Tōru Takemitsu
Production; company	Toho
Distributed by	Toho
Release date	November 18, 1967;
Running time	108 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Scattered Clouds aka Two in the Shadow (乱れ雲, Midaregumo) is a 1967 Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse starring Yōko Tsukasa and Yūzō Kayama. It was Naruse's final film after a long lasting career which started in 1930.^[2]^[3]

Plot[]

Shortly before Yumiko's and her husband Hiroshi's (an employee of the Ministry of Economy) departure for the United States, he is killed in a car accident. Though acquitted in the following hearing, the car's driver Shiro feels guilty and offers Yumiko to pay a monthly instalment. Yumiko first rejects, but when her husband's family disowns her, leaving her without an inheritance, she finally accepts the money. Due to her precarious financial situation, she decides to return to her hometown and work in the inn run by her sister near Lake Towada. By coincidence, Shiro is reassigned by his employers to the same area. Although Yumiko and Shiro slowly develop a mutual affection, finally leading to a love affair, Yumiko can't leave her past behind, which returns with all its power when she witnesses an accident that reminds her of Hiroshi's death. In the end, Shiro is transferred again, to a far away office in Lahore, Pakistan.

Cast[]

Yōko Tsukasa as Yumiko
Yūzō Kayama as Mishima Shiro
Mitsuko Kusabue as Ayako, Yumiko's sister
Mitsuko Mori as Katsuko, Yumiko's sister-in-law
Mie Hama as Teruko
Daisuke Katō as Hayashida
Yoshio Tsuchiya as Hiroshi, Yumiko's husband
Yū Fujiki as Ishikawa, Ayako's husband
Tadao Nakamaru as Fujiwara
Kumeko Urabe as Nui, Shiro's mother

Legacy[]

Scattered Clouds was presented in the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1987, with an introduction by noted film historian Donald Richie.^[4] In 2015, it was presented at the 39th Hong Kong International Film Festival as part of a retrospective on the director.^[5]

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Scattered Clouds at the Japanese Movie Database" (in Japanese). Retrieved 23 January 2021.
^ Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Lanham, Toronto, Plymouth: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-6004-9.
^ Russell, Catherine (2011). Classical Japanese Cinema Revisited. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8108-6004-9.
^ "New York Magazine Movies Theater Guide". New York Magazine. 13 April 1987. p. 110. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
^ Marsh, James (11 February 2015). "Hong Kong International Film Festival To Honour Naruse Mikio On 60th Anniversary Of FLOATING CLOUDS". screenanarchy.com. Retrieved 23 January 2021.

Bibliography[]

Russell, Catherine (2008). The Cinema of Naruse Mikio: Women and Japanese Modernity. Durham and London: Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-4290-8.

External links[]

Scattered Clouds at IMDb
Scattered Clouds at the Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese)
Uhlich, Keith. "Scattered Clouds review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 23 January 2021.

[jmdb-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Scattered Clouds at the Japanese Movie Database" (in Japanese). Retrieved 23 January 2021.

[Galbraith-2] Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Lanham, Toronto, Plymouth: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-6004-9.

[Russell2-3] Russell, Catherine (2011). Classical Japanese Cinema Revisited. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8108-6004-9.

[4] "New York Magazine Movies Theater Guide". New York Magazine. 13 April 1987. p. 110. Retrieved 23 January 2021.

[screenanarchy-5] Marsh, James (11 February 2015). "Hong Kong International Film Festival To Honour Naruse Mikio On 60th Anniversary Of FLOATING CLOUDS". screenanarchy.com. Retrieved 23 January 2021.

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