Cloud
by Hope Madden
The films of Kiyoshi Kurosawa distinguish themselves with a sense of human dread in a larger, inhuman, often digital landscape. They unsettle with notions of something or someone beyond that organic veil able to exact harm. Sometimes the realm is more unworldly than digital, but the result is often the same: there is something out there, and it might even be us, but it’s not good.
The third of the filmmaker’s 2024 features, Cloud, makes its way to American screens this weekend. Riffing on the same idea, Kurosawa follows Yoshii (Masaki Suda), an online reseller who’s made some enemies.
The detached young man goes through his day nabbing and reselling bulk items—knock off designer bags, “therapy machines”, defective espresso makers—while quietly impressing at his day job in the factory. But once his manager pegs him as leadership material, Yoshii quits, uproots his spendy girlfriend (Kotone Furukawa), and leaves Tokyo for someplace a little roomier and more isolated.
Because there are signs that Yoshii should probably not let his true whereabouts known to his buyers.
Kurosawa sews together pieces of a mystery in what feels more like a character study for about two thirds of the film’s running time. An assortment of oddballs orbit Yoshii, but his gravitational pull is never entirely clear until the filmmaker takes a wild turn in Act 3.
The result feels like two separate movies, one meditative and mysterious, the other, slaphappy and frenetic. And while they don’t pair especially naturally, the fun of the final act makes up for the tonal stumble.
Kurosawa’s pervading themes of loneliness and disconnectedness in a connected world take on an almost satirical edge in Cloud. As forces close in on Yoshii, his own personality becomes less and less evident while those around him take on comedically odd characters. Rather than elegant melancholy, Cloud devolves merrily into sloppy chaos. And it’s a blast.
This may not be the film he’s remembered for, but we already have so many of those (Pulse and Cure, obviously, but so many more!). Still, for a step outside the expected and an unexpected burst of giddy, messy violence, Cloud shouldn’t be forgotten.
