is a 1956 Japanese

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film directed by

Mikio Naruse was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 89 films spanning the period 1930 to 1967. Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook. He made primarily Shoshimin-eiga, shōshimin-eiga ("common people drama") films with f ...

. It is based on a play by

Kunio Kishida Kunio Kishida (岸田國士, Kishida Kunio, 2 November 1890 – 5 March 1954) was a Japanese playwright, dramatist, novelist, lecturer, acting coach, theatre critic, translator, and proponent of Shingeki ("New Theatre"/”New Drama"). Kishida sp ...

Plot

The marriage of Fumiko and Ryōtarō Namiki has gone stale, with both of them constantly arguing over what to do on a day off, or about her cutting out cooking recipes from the newspaper before he finishes reading it. Their animosities are witnessed by Fumiko's niece Ayako, who pays a visit to complain about her own husband's inattentiveness, and their new neighbours, the Imasatos. When Ryōtarō's company announces the dismissal of some of their employees, a group of his colleagues visit him at home and offer him to become their partner in a bar financed with their severance pay, with Fumiko serving the bar's guests. Ryōtarō throws them out and has an argument with Fumiko, declaring that he does not want his wife to take up a job. The couple contemplates a divorce and Ryōtarō's return to his hometown to work on his family's farm. The next morning, a children's balloon falls into their backyard, and Fumiko and Ryōtarō become engaged in a defiant ball throwing game, which is watched by the neighbours.

Cast

* Setsuko Hara as Fumiko Namiki * Shūji Sano as Ryōtarō Namiki *

Kyōko Kagawa is a Japanese actress. During her career spanning 70 years, she has worked with directors like Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi, Yasujirō Ozu and Mikio Naruse, appearing in films such as ''Tokyo Story'', ''Sansho the Bailiff'', '' The Bad Sleep W ...

as Ayako *

Keiju Kobayashi was a Japanese actor who appeared in 253 films in a career spanning 67 years. Born in Gunma Prefecture, he began acting at the Nikkatsu studio after dropping out of Nihon University and made his film debut in 1942. In 1956 he moved to Toho film ...

as Mr. Imasato *

Akemi Negishi was a Japanese actress. Film career Tokyo-born Akemi Negishi came to the attention of international audiences when she starred in the US/Japanese co-production ''Anatahan'', her debut film. Josef von Sternberg directed the tale of shipwrecked ...

as Mrs. Imasato * Chieko Nakakita as Mrs. Kurobayashi *

Daisuke Katō was a Japanese actor. He appeared in over 200 films, including Akira Kurosawa's ''Seven Samurai'', ''Rashomon'', ''Yojimbo'', and ''Ikiru''. He also worked repeatedly for noted directors such as Yasujirō Ozu, Mikio Naruse and Kenji Mizoguchi. ...

as Kawakami

Reception

Naruse biographer Catherine Russell called ''Sudden Rain'' an "extraordinarily bleak film", which nonetheless "offers a poetic treatment of a dismal situation".

Dan Sallitt Dan Sallitt (born July 27, 1955) is an American filmmaker and film critic. He is known for his microbudget filmmaking and cinephile film criticism. Early life and career Sallitt was born on July 27, 1955, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He re ...

saw the film's depiction of the marital conflict as "characteristically brutal and devastating" for Naruse, despite the "light-hearted formal play".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sudden Rain 1956 films 1956 comedy-drama films Japanese comedy-drama films Japanese black-and-white films 1950s Japanese-language films Japanese films based on plays Films directed by Mikio Naruse Toho films Films produced by Sanezumi Fujimoto Films scored by Ichirō Saitō 1950s Japanese films