Floating Clouds

Before I begin to dissect the characters and their relationship, I'd like to discuss the major aspects of the film itself. An interest place to start is the story's context in history. One must take into consideration all literature created that centers around Postwar cultures in order to understand why this film plays out the way it does. Postwar America and Postwar Japan literature have similarities in the way that it depicts the nation reeling after a world war. People are trying to build up the workforce, the economy, families, etc. However, when we compare to American literature, we must remember that although these films may depict somber moods and hardship, we won the war and it was reflected in more uplifting stories. This is the major difference when analyzing Japan's postwar nation. This film attempts to mask that depression with its notions of romance, but it is inherently a story about yearning.

One of the most important and repeated themes in this film is the transition between time. The story is told through a series of flashbacks. This is usually hard to do in film successfully, but Naruse does it in a way that tells the story fluidly. An editing tool that helps to do this is the "L-cut." This is when the audio from one clip will continue to play even as the picture cuts to another image. This technique is used to stitch an idea together even though there is a cut in the middle. Another technique successfully used in this film was the music. It wasn't overtly romantic, but it mimics the dance that Kengo and Yukiko do with each other and with themselves.

Time and almost everything else in this story push the couple apart, yet they remain in touch with each other. This creates the tension in the film that makes the story so engaging. This reveals that they need each other, not romantically or sexually, but rather because they are dependent on one another. Kengo embodies the character of "floating clouds" because he is not grounded anywhere nor to anyone. Additionally, he is not tethered morally and can't find full satisfaction no matter where or who he's with. Yukiko, on the other hand, longs for the most exciting time in her life and that time included her affair with Kengo. He reminds her of better and more prosperous times which is why she is so attached to him.