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Floating Clouds

Original title: Ukigumo

“So short is the life of a flower, yet so much hardships it suffered.”

1955 · 2 h 3 min
Directed by Mikio Naruse
DramaRomance

Cast

Hideko Takamine Masayuki Mori

Credits

Written by: Fumiko Hayashi

Plot

After the war, Yukiko returns from Indochina, where she had a love affair with Tomioka, a married forestry official. She finds him in Tokyo, living with his wife, and in the ruined, impoverished city she is drawn back to him again and again, though he is weak and unfaithful. Mikio Naruse's 1955 film, with Hideko Takamine and Masayuki Mori, follows their painful relationship through a series of failed hopes and has a quiet, steady sadness. It is considered one of the finest Japanese films of its era.

Sinekatalog’s take

Mikio Naruse's masterpiece follows a woman and her married lover in ruined postwar Tokyo, unable to part or find peace. Hideko Takamine is heartbreaking in a bleak, tender and quietly devastating drama.Sinekatalog’s own editorial review – not a user or critic quote.

Ratings

IMDb: 7.6 / 10 (3,725 votes)
IMDb rating and vote count from the IMDb ratings dataset (October 2026). Scores change over time.

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