'Floating Clouds' continues Masters of Japanese Cinema Series

This year's Masters of Japanese Cinema Series begins at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov, 10, at the Pickford Film Center with a screening of Naruse Mikio’s  award-winning film "Floating Clouds."

The film made a clean sweep of the prestigious Kinema Junpo awards in 1956, winning best actor (Mori Masayuki), best actress (Takamine Hideko), best director and best film. 

Based on one of the final works by Naruse’s favorite source novelist, Hayashi Fumiko, the story involves the love affair between Yukiko (Takamine) and a married man (Mori), starting during World War II in French Indochina and continuing through the privations of the postwar years.  Mori plays his traditional role of the weak-willed man whose choices (or lack thereof) affect those around him, and Takamine gives one of her best performances, showing why she is considered one of the greatest of Japanese actors.

Floating Clouds will be introduced by David Gray, who is a visiting assistant professor of Film Studies in the English Department at Western Washington University.

Co-sponsored by Western Libraries and the Pickford Film Center, the Masters of Japanese Cinema series is one of the Pickford's longest running and most loved series. Jeff Purdue, who is both a librarian at Western and also the series curator, consistently selects some of the best films in World Cinema, featuring movies that span both decades and genres. Each film in the series begins with an introduction from select speakers including local professors, artists, and educators. 

To learn more about upcoming films featured in this series, click on this link. If you have questions about the Masters of Japanese Cinema Series, contact Jeff.Purdue@wwu.edu.