Naruse's final four films paint an interesting picture of this artist at the end of his career. "Midareru" (Yearning, 1964) was a work, where he crafted his signature style to perfection for the final time. "Onna no naka ni iru tanin" (The Stranger Within a Woman, 1966) and "Hikinige" (Moment of Terror, 1966) where something different; the director's experiments or even forays into suspense and crime narratives. The latter featured a narrative centered around a case of hit and run, supported by a critique of today's cold mentality and heavy traffic. These are interesting films to keep in mind while assessing Naruse's final work "Midaregumo" (Two in the Shadow, 1967), which starts off from a traffic accident and then moves on to become a loose reworking of "Yearning".
Many reviewers have pointed out, how this, among all Naruse films, most resembles the style of Douglas Sirk. I agree. After a series of films in black and white, Naruse got to once more make a film in fresh, summery colors, and to use this tranquil beauty as the backdrop for a narrative about pain, love, and communal expectations. In a way, it's not that far from Sirk's "All That Heaven Allows" (1955), though you could just as well name "The Magnificent Obsession" (1956) as the closest thematic counterpart. And to keep on with the comparisons, the lead-couple of beautiful people whose acting is so-so kind of brings to mind the likes of Lana Turner and John Gavin.
Mishima (Kayama Yuzo) is a company worker, who kills the husband of Yumiko (Tsukasa Yoko) in a car accident. He is guilt-ridden, even though the court does not find him guilty of anything. The company sees him as bad publicity, and transfers him to an office in a remote part of the country. As destiny would have it, this is also where Yumiko travels to take her mind off the pain. The couple bump into each other, and gradually out of guilt and hate, warmer feelings start to form.
The score is far from minimal, and helps to establish the larger-than-life feelings of the story. It also helps Naruse to keep other elements more subtle, and the film goes on in a pace that's very careful. The film is very reserved on the outside, and you get the sense that it hides the biggest angst deep down. Yumiko does not know how she should act when the man who killed her husband suddenly becomes a part of her life. Even though the cast of characters is small, one always has to be nervous about how other people view your actions.
I don't know if Naruse knew this was going to be the final one for him, but he manages to assemble together most of the key players of his final decade of film-making. Kayama played practically the same role in "Yearning", while Tsukasa played the hit-and-run driver in "Moment of Terror". Those can't be coincidences. Other familiar faces from Naruse's earlier films include Kato Daisuke, Hama Mie, Nakamura Nobuo, and Urabe Kumeko. It's a shame that Takamine Hideko is absent, but then again after 20-something collaborations with Naruse, we can't really fault them for taking breaks once in a while, too.
In the end, "Midaregumo" is not one of the director's best works, but still a more confident closing chapter for his filmography than what his two previous films would have been. The film is a bit loose, and a bit too slow, and possibly Naruse has difficulty to make the beautiful summery landscapes work for the benefit of the narrative's internal darkness. Still, it's an interesting look at how the force of destiny tampers in the lives of individuals, and a functional companion piece for "Yearning", his last masterwork.
