Summer Clouds (1958)
"Iwashigumo" (original title)

A war widow with a young boy manages a farm with her bossy mother-in-law. When a reporter comes to interview her... See full synopsis »

Director:

Mikio Naruse

Writers:

Shinobu Hashimoto, Tsutou Wada (novel)

Stars:

Chikage Awashima, Michiyo Aratama, Yôko Tsukasa

5 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Chikage Awashima	...	Yae
Michiyo Aratama
Yôko Tsukasa	...	Miciko
Isao Kimura	...	Okawa
Keiju Kobayashi	...	Hatsuji
Kumi Mizuno	...	Hamako
Daisuke Katô
Ganjirô Nakamura	...	Wasuke
Haruko Sugimura	...	Mother
Nijiko Kiyokawa
Chôko Iida	...	Hidé
Kunio Ôtsuka
Hiroshi Tachikawa	...	Shinji (as Yoichi Tachikawa)
Tomoko Naraoka
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Noriko Honma

Storyline

A war widow with a young boy manages a farm with her bossy mother-in-law. When a reporter comes to interview her... See full synopsis »

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

2 September 1958 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Summer Clouds

Filming Locations:

Atsugi, Kanagawa, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

User Reviews

The Archers in Asia

Most Naruse films seem to be about geisha's or ex-geisha's. This however is a tale of everyday farming folk, as in the long running UK radio soap, The Archers. Much of the long 128 minutes is spent demonstrating paddy field farming techniques. However, there is a fair bit of family drama around marriage, succession, land, kids leaving home, children disappointing parents and vice versa, the prevalent theme being the way industrialisation enables young people to escape from the unappealing nature of farming and the control exercised by their elders.

Some beautiful scenery, brought out by Naruse's filming/ editing and intermittently convincing characters go some way to compensate for a glacial pace and a somewhat over attention to details. However, drama is only present from time to time so some patience is required.