Farewell to Dream
Kanji夕やけ雲
Directed byKeisuke Kinoshita
Written byYoshiko Kusuda
Produced byKōzō Kubo
Starring
CinematographyHiroshi Kusuda
Edited byYoshi Sugihara
Music byChuji Kinoshita
Production
company
Distributed byShochiku
Release date
  • 17 April 1956 (1956-04-17) (Japan)[1][2]
Running time
77 minutes[1][2]
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Farewell to Dream a.k.a. Clouds at Twilight (Japanese: 夕やけ雲, romanized: Yūyake-gumo) is a 1956 Japanese drama film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita. It was written by Kinoshita's sister Yoshiko Kusuda.[3]

Plot

After the opening titles, which announce the story of a boy whose dream didn't come true, Farewell to Dream shows the protagonist, 20-year-old fishmonger Yoichi, standing in the shop's backyard and looking out into the distance.

In a long flashback, the film then switches to the preceding events which took place a few years earlier. 15-year-old Yoichi, the second child of five of a poor Tokyo fishmonger and his wife, dreams of becoming a sailor like his deceased uncle. With his binoculars, a gift from his uncle, he watches a young woman living above a beauty salon in another district of the city and makes up a story about her. His older sister Toyoko, much to her parents' concern, repeatedly cancels her engagements, insisting that she wants to marry a rich man and escape her poor upbringing. Toyoko finally marries a much older man, but has an affair with Sudo, her former fiancé. After a heart attack, Yoichi's father is bedridden and finally dies, so Yoichi has to take over the shop and his younger sister Kazue is adopted by another uncle. When his best friend Seiji moves away due to his father's reassignment and the young woman from the beauty salon marries, Yoichi feels left alone.

Back in the present, Yoichi makes a short break during work in the shop's backyard, musing about his failed dream and the people he had to part ways with.

Cast

Reception

Michael Kienzl comments on Critic.de that "Kinoshita relies less on emotional outbursts than on quiet touching moments." He gives as an example the farewell scene between Yoichi and his best friend, in which the tragedy of their parting is conveyed through close-ups of their touching feet and a long handshake.[4] Turner Classic Movies' Rob Nixon draws attention to the beginning framing scene, in which Yoichi's being hemmed in by his circumstances is reflected in the mise-en-scène which shows Yoichi in a narrow frame between two buildings.[5]

Legacy

Farewell to Dream was screened at the Tokyo Filmex in 2012[6] and at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2013.[7]

Awards

Yoshiko Kuga, who played Yoishi's older sister, won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Farewell to Dream and two other films. Eijirō Tōno, who played Yoishi's father, won the Mainichi Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in this film and in Yoru no kawa.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 "夕やけ雲 (Farewell to Dream)". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  2. 1 2 "夕やけ雲 (Farewell to Dream)". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  3. ↑ "夕やけ雲 (Farewell to Dream)". Shochiku Cinema Classics (in Japanese). Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  4. ↑ Kienzl, Michael (20 February 2013). "Inneres Verlangen und äußere Zwänge". critic.de. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  5. ↑ Nixon, Rob. "Farewell to Dream". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  6. ↑ "Farewell to Dream / Yuyakegumo". Tokyo Filmex. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  7. ↑ "Yuyake gumo – Farewell to Dream". Berlinale.de. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  8. ↑ "Yūyake-gumo (1956) Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
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