Floating Clouds

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

1955 2h 3m JA

🙌

7.7

BANGER

★7.7TMDB · 109

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A married Japanese forester during WWII is sent to Indochina to manage forests. He meets a young Japanese typist and promises to leave his wife. He doesn't and after the war, she turns up and the affair resumes.

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

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Cast

Hideko Takamine
Yukiko Koda
Masayuki Mori
Kengo Tomioka
Mariko Okada
Sei Mukai
Isao Yamagata
Sugio Iba
Chieko Nakakita
Kuniko Tomioka
Daisuke Katō
Seikichi Mukai
Noriko Sengoku
Mayuri Mokushô

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Mikio Naruse
Writers: Yōko Mizuki
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

71 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Mikio Naruse, shot by Masao Tamai. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Ichirō Saitō. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Eiji Ooi shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Hideko Takamine and Masayuki Mori and Mariko Okada carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

RUNTIME

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "So short is the life of a flower, yet so much hardships it suffered.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0048757 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Mikio Naruse directs. Masao Tamai behind the camera. Ichirō Saitō scores. Eiji Ooi cuts. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

171 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Mikio Naruse, shot by Masao Tamai. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Ichirō Saitō. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Eiji Ooi shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Hideko Takamine and Masayuki Mori and Mariko Okada carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "So short is the life of a flower, yet so much hardships it suffered.".
7IMDB entry: tt0048757 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Masao Tamai
Original score: Ichirō Saitō
Editing: Eiji Ooi
Production design: Satoru Chūko
Runtime: 123 min · 2h 3m
Status: Released
Original language: JA
Certification (US): U
IMDB: Floating Clouds (1955)

Also by

Mikio Naruse

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-12-07
★ 7/10
With Japan on it’s knees following the end of the Second World War, “Yukiko” (Hideko Takamine) is struggling to find meaning in her life. She had had a fling with the married “Tomioka” (Masayuki Mori) but when he had been despatched to work for the forestry service in Annam, she assumed that was that. Well no, as it happens, for she is also posted there as a typist and so they pick up where they left off. Whilst perhaps not a sense of happiness, there is contentedness for “Yukiko” until returning to Japan, she soon realises that not only can they never truly be together but that he has most definitely got a wandering eye. To be fair to him, she also seeks solace elsewhere and for a while has an GI in tow, but ultimately she only has eyes for her “Tomioka”. With neither of them having any money most of the time, and him being the unreliable type, what chance they can make anything of this uniquely mistrusting and dysfunctional arrangement when he is offered a job as a ranger on a remote island? Now this is a slowly paced melodrama that does contrive to include just about every post-war scenario from homelessness, poverty, rape, pregnancy and betrayal into it’s two hours, but both lead actors bring a credible poignancy to their performances as they try to thrive against their own flawed characteristics in a nation in ruin and where women had little, if any, status. The photography, the never ending rain, and the prevailing sense of bleakness contribute strongly and the one thing you can be certain of is that their's is a journey unlikely to end in the light.

Production companies