The Cinematheque

A highpoint in the director’s especially underseen 1950s output, Sound in the Mist demonstrates Shimizu’s delicate hand in wringing poetry from tales of heartbreak and longing. Produced by Daiei Film, the golden-age studio behind Rashomon, Gate of Hell, and Ugetsu, this lyrical adaptation of a play by Hojo Hideji stars Naruse regular Uehara Ken (Repast) as Onuma Kazuhiko, a botany professor engaged in an extramarital affair in the Japanese Alps. The arrival of Kazuhiko’s wife drives his lover away, and he is haunted by her memory each autumn equinox when he returns to the mountains. Handsomely shot on location in the scenic Kamikochi valley, the film lends credence to scholar Sharon Hayashi’s belief that Shimizu favoured landscape over actors. It was a critical darling at a recent revival engagement in Lisbon, and comes highly recommended by Cahiers du cinéma critic Clément Rauger, curator of the Cinémathèque française’s 2021 Shimizu retrospective.

In Japanese with English subtitles

DCP courtesy of Japan Society, New York