‘Cloud’ Review: Japan’s Oscar Entry Finds Kiyoshi Kurosawa Matching Madness and Madcap in Online Reselling Satirical Thriller | Venice

Japan’s official Oscar entry and Venice Film Festival selection, Cloud finds J-horror master Kiyoshi Kurosawa comfortably in his wheelhouse. It’s an atmospheric thriller imbued with a sense of dread throughout and executed with clinical precision, exactly what his fans expect.  

Beneath its creepy and sinister veneer, though, it’s something a bit radical for Kurosawa. Despite the masterfully understated filmmaking, the story itself is over the top. Come to think of it, the film is nearly as mischievous and bonkers as Takashi Miike’s canon, but it’s told entirely through a straight-face lens. Kurosawa must be having a lot of fun. 

Ryosuke Yoshii (Masaki Suda, The Boy and the Heron) is a factory worker who dabbles as an e-commerce scam artist in his spare time. He has many reasons to watch his back; some are of his own doing while others are a bit of a stretch. 

In the opening scene, he offers to purchase 30 deadstock medical devices at 3,000 Yen (about $20 in today’s exchange rate) apiece from the Tonoyamas (Masaaki Akahori and Maho Yamada), a seemingly desperate older couple. Each machine retailed for 400,000 Yen and cost 10,000 Yen to make. Apparently Ryosuke grossly low-balled. When he lists the devices at an online market platform for 200,000 Yen a pop, they sell out instantly.  

He notices an ominous object wrapped in newspaper and left on his stairwell, but pays it no mind. He also suffers a minor motorcycle accident due to a trap made with metal wire. 

At the day job, Ryosuke rebuffs an offer from his supervisor, Takimoto (Yoshiyoshi Arakawa), to be promoted into a managerial role. Not only that, he quits days later to resell online full time. Just as he is packing up to move to the countryside with his girlfriend, Akiko (Kotone Furukawa), his old boss inexplicably pays a visit.  

Ryosuke also declines to go in on the startup proposed by former schoolmate Muraoka (Masataka Kubota). In seclusion, he takes on local boy Sano (Daiken Okudaira) as an assistant while he tries to offload an inventory of counterfeit designer handbags. Sano eventually gets overly solicitous so Ryosuke fires him. Before leaving, he warns him of the death threats within the angry customer feedback. 

Just precisely who is after Ryosuke? People like the Tonoyamas and customers who purchase counterfeit purses from him obviously have a legitimate gripe. Conversely, Takimoto and Muraoka would have to be unhinged to hold grudges against him for such trivial and petty reasons. Kurosawa wants you to keep guessing for half the film. Anyone could be a suspect. Everyone could be out to get Ryosuke.  

It’s there that the plot goes completely off the rails and the story becomes truly irrational and requires an ever increasing level of suspension of disbelief. But in this instance, it’s a plus. The more outrageous it gets, the funnier. The film does perhaps reach a point where it’s gone too far, but the final twist is well foreshadowed so viewers can’t say they don’t see it coming. 

This kind of off-the-chain story would ordinarily be matched by equally bombastic filmmaking in the hands of someone like Miike or John Woo even. But Kurosawa prefers his usual tricks. Few filmmakers can deploy darkness and ambient sound with such dexterity and efficiency. The writer-director recycles some of his favorite motifs such as abandoned buildings and plastic sheets to maximum effect. Fans of Cure and his other genre flicks will definitely get their kicks. 

There’s quite a bit of social commentary and satire, too. The Japanese idol culture, complete with ticket scalping and collectable figurines, gets sideswiped here. The most discernible, though, is obviously the clash between Japan’s ancient business customs, where one devotes an entire career to one company, and the age of e-commerce. Loyalty, considered a paramount virtue, is both a blessing and a curse, depending entirely on how much of a team player you are and if your independence can be misconstrued as betrayal. The Japanese corporate allegiance here is contrasted with, of all things, yakuza traditions. If you ruminate over it, this is actually hysterical. 

With renewed interest in Japanese cinema thanks to Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Wim Wenders(!), it’s time for a legend like Kurosawa to finally get his due. While its thematic concerns aren’t highbrow at face value, the impeccable artistry speaks for itself.

Grade: B

This review is from the 2024 Venice Film Festival. There is currently no U.S. distribution at this time.