Two in the Shadow (1967)

A man falls in love with the widow of a man he killed in a car accident. Eventually she falls in love with him in return.

Director:

Mikio Naruse

Writer:

Nobuo Yamada

Stars:

Yûzô Kayama, Yôko Tsukasa, Mitsukô Kusabue

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yûzô Kayama	...	Shiro Mishima
Yôko Tsukasa	...	Yumiko
Mitsukô Kusabue	...	Ayako, Yumiko's sister (as Mitsuko Kusabue)
Mitsuko Mori	...	Katsuko
Mie Hama	...	Teruko
Daisuke Katô	...	Hayashida
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Yumiko's husband
Yû Fujiki	...	Ishikawa, Ayako's husband
Tadao Nakamaru	...	Fujiwara
Fuyuki Murakami
Gen Shimizu
Hisao Toake
Hisaya Itô
Bokuzen Hidari
Naoya Kusakawa	...	Inoue

Storyline

A husband and wife's love for each other and plans for the future are shattered when the man dies in a car accident. Misery is compounded when the man's parents disinherit his now widow and their former daughter-in-law. In the meanwhile, the chauffeur who accidentally killed a man is racked with guilt. In the melee, the driver and the widow begin to develop feelings for another.

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Plot Keywords:

japanese wife | chauffeur | widowed | daughter in law | japanese woman | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese English

Release Date:

24 April 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Two in the Shadow

Filming Locations:

Towada, Aomori, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film inspired the movie Cold Bloom.

User Reviews

In the shadow of Sirk

Despite some recent interest in his works in the west, Mikio Naruse has still largely remained in the shadow of his contemporary Yasujiro Ozu, a comparison that has hasn't served Naruse well. Despite some superficial genre similarities however, a wider look at Naruse's work - few of the director's 89 films have been seen outside Japan - shows that the comparison really isn't even merited. Shot in Tohoscope and in colour, Naruse's gorgeous melodrama Scattered Clouds is closer to Douglas Sirk than Ozu, but it's also possible to consider the film's style and subject matter as being influential on other Asian filmmakers like Wong Kar-Wai (In the Mood For Love) and the Korean master of romantic melodrama Hur Jin-Ho (April Snow). The pace is more sedate, but considering the nature of the encounter here, the passions are necessarily of the slow-burn kind.

It takes that long for Yumiko's feelings to change towards the man who was responsible for her husband's death in a car accident. Shiro, a driver for an escort/entertainments company, has been cleared of any wrongdoing, but can't help but feel a sense of guilt for what has happened, particularly when Yumiko is subsequently disinherited from her husband's family protection. It's this sense of guilt on both sides, for different reasons that draws the couple together, and at the same time proves to be an impossible impediment to the love that they eventually feel for each other.

Strikingly shot, delicately understated, with the occasional abstract poetic cutaway to sustain mood and tension, the pacing and balancing of emotions is masterful as the film builds towards a quietly devastating conclusion.