Summer Clouds

Summer Clouds
Japanese name
Kanji鰯雲
Directed byMikio Naruse
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyMasao Tamai
Edited byEiji Ooi
Music byIchirō Saitō
Production
company
Distributed byToho
Release date
  • 2 September 1958 (1958-09-02) (Japan)[1][2]
Running time
129 minutes[1][2]
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Summer Clouds (鰯雲, Iwashigumo), also titled Herringbone Clouds, is a 1958 Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse.[1][2] It was Naruse's first film in colour and in widescreen format.[3]

Plot

Journalist Okawa interviews farming woman Yae for his article on the present situation of farmers under the new constitution and after the agrarian reform. Yae tells of her hard labour life, financial worries, and her low status as a daughter-in-law and widow, which equals to "nothing" as long as her son is not married. At the same time, her older brother Wasuke, married already for the third time, tries to find a wife for his eldest son Hatsuji. When Yae tells Okawa of her brother's search for a daughter-in-law, he suggests a young woman who won a prize in an agricultural contest. During their travels to meet the young woman and her mother, Yae and the married Okawa start an affair. Hatsuji's marriage prospect, Michiko, turns out to be the stepchild of Wasuke's first wife Toyo, who had been thrown out by Wasuke's and Yae's patriarchal father for not showing enough fervour in the field work. Wasuke, insisting that the couple celebrates a traditional, lavish marriage, tries to borrow money for the ceremony against Yae's advice, who argues that traditions are not of the same importance to younger people. One after another, Wasuke's sons demand their independence in choosing their individual paths in life. Reluctant at first, Wasuke eventually sells the remaining parts of his lands to support his sons, while Yae sees her chance of finding happiness vanish when Okawa is transferred to Tokyo.

Cast

Reception

Naruse biographer Catherine Russell saw in Summer Clouds an "extremely progressive" film for the time of its making, which "incorporates key elements of the woman's film", articulating its social critique through the main character Yae. Additionally, she pointed out Ganjiro Nakamura's performance as Wasuke as one of the film's "real strengths".[3] Contrary to film historian Alexander Jacoby, who cited Summer Clouds as an example of the "structural elegance" of Naruse's work,[4] Dan Sallitt called the film "too well organized around its subject", but, like Russell, emphasised Nakamura's vivid and energising performance.[5]

Legacy

Summer Clouds was screened at the Museum of Modern Art in 1985 as part of its retrospective on Mikio Naruse,[6] organised by the Kawakita Memorial Film Institute and film scholar Audie Bock.[7]

Awards

Mainichi Film Awards[8]
  • Best Screenplay Shinobu Hashimoto (for Summer Clouds, Stakeout and Night Drum)
  • Best Actress Chikage Awashima (for Summer Clouds and Hotarubi)
  • Best Supporting Actor Ganjirō Nakamura (for Summer Clouds and Conflagration)
Blue Ribbon Awards[9]
  • Best Screenplay Shinobu Hashimoto (for Summer Clouds and Stakeout)
  • Best Supporting Actor Ganjirō Nakamura (for Summer Clouds and Conflagration)

References

  1. ^ a b c "鰯雲 (Summer Clouds)". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "鰯雲 (Summer Clouds)". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  3. ^ a b Russell, Catherine (2008). The Cinema of Naruse Mikio: Women and Japanese Modernity. Durham and London: Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-4290-8.
  4. ^ Jacoby, Alexander (2008). Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors: From the Silent Era to the Present Day. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 978-1-933330-53-2.
  5. ^ Sallitt, Dan (5 April 2016). "Summer Clouds". A Mikio Naruse Companion. Notes on the Extant Films, 1931-1967. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Mikio Naruse: A Master of the Japanese Cinema Opens at MoMA September 23" (PDF). Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  7. ^ "Mikio Naruse: a master of the Japanese cinema". CineFiles. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  8. ^ "1958 Mainichi Film Awards". Mainichi (in Japanese). Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  9. ^ "1958 Blue Ribbon Awards". Cinema Hochi (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2021.

Bibliography

  • Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Lanham, Toronto, Plymouth: Scarecrow Press. p. 148. ISBN 978-0-8108-6004-9.