Floating Clouds

Mikio Naruse’s masterpiece about a wandering woman trying to find her identity amid the devastation of post-war Japan.

Adapted from Fumiko Hayashi’s best-sellling novel, Mikio Naruse’s undisputed masterpiece contrasts two characters: a strong woman who relentlessly pursues her desire while hoping her lover and society will understand what she has to do to survive, and her lover who craves a conventionally validated social identity.

To him, she represents a blind spot that he cannot face. They love each other, but the times are out of kilter and they are hopelessly out of synch, trying to live as individuals in a newly democratised Japan. One of the key works from one of Japan’s master filmmakers.