I’m starting to think that Naruse is just pitiless. Aside from the socio-economic circumstances that they are trapped in, his characters are particularly hampered by some human foible that dooms them to make choices that backfire on them. In the case of “Floating Clouds”, it is the main character’s infatuation with a wartime paramour that dooms her. In this film, it is Keiko’s(Hideko Takamine) aspiration to have her own bar that sets her up for one disappointment after another. On one hand, this hope she holds onto makes her a likable protagonist. On the other hand, one cannot help but wonder if it is actually her sense of hope that traps her. This is just despairing stuff.
I’m starting to think that Naruse is just pitiless. Aside from the socio-economic circumstances that they are trapped in, his characters are particularly hampered by some human foible that dooms them to make choices that backfire on them. In the case of “Floating Clouds”, it is the main character’s infatuation with a wartime paramour that dooms her. In this film, it is Keiko’s(Hideko Takamine) aspiration to have her own bar that sets her up for one disappointment after another. On one hand, this hope she holds onto makes her a likable protagonist. On the other hand, one cannot help but wonder if it is actually her sense of hope that traps her. This is just despairing stuff.
