Floating Clouds

During the war Yukiko has an affair with Tomioka, an agricultural official in French Indochina, and he tells her he will leave his wife. The war ends, both return to Japan, and Tomioka does not keep his word. Yukiko does not leave him; over the years they part and meet again, the money runs out, the man goes to other women and she comes back every time. Mikio Naruse adapted Fumiko Hayashi's novel. This is not a love story but dependency and postwar poverty laid over each other, with nobody changing their decision and the situation only worsening. Hideko Takamine plays Yukiko and the part is counted among the most cited performances by an actress in Japanese cinema. The last section takes place on Yakushima. Who it is for: viewers who like Japanese classics and postwar drama. Who it is not for: anyone looking for hope, which the film never supplies.