Scattered Clouds

Scattered Clouds
Midaregumo
Japan
1967
108 Min
Color
Japanese, English
DIR Mikio Naruse
PROD Sanezumi Fujimoto, Masakatsu Kaneko
SCR Nobuo Yamada
DP Yuzuru Aizawa
CAST Yûzô Kayama, Yôko Tsukasa, Mitsuko Kusabue, Mitsuko Mori, Mie Hama, Daisuke Katô
ED Hideshi Ohi
PROD DES Satoshi Chuko
MUSIC Tôru Takemitsu
SOUND Masao Fujiyoshi
My Rating: 4/5


Naruse ends his film making journey with a premise that we are used to associate with him. Here we have another dysfunctional relationship between a man and a woman whose husband gets killed in a car accident, in which the aforementioned man is involved.

Tragedy hits early in the film and the woman is distraught with the way society reacts to the death of her husband. There is less sympathy but more talk about remuneration. Her husbands family resents her receiving their son’s pension and wants her out. The woman’s sister wants to ensure that her sister gets a good deal out of all this so that she doesn’t have to depend on her. Amidst all this, the woman tries to forget her past and tries to lead a normal life. The man involved in the accident although acquitted, decides to do his part by helping the woman, even if it is through monetary compensation. The two keep bumping into each other at various places, causing discomfort to both, but slowly their resentment and guilt reduces and they develop soft feelings for each other.

As it usually happens in such relationships, they can never blossom, considering that the past continues to haunt them. The two are caught in this complex relationship and eventually Naruse leaves us with a rhetorical question regarding the unfairness of life. On one hand life takes away our loved ones and when we find love, it isn’t as simple as it should be. Life is full of sadness but then, one must accept this reality and move on.