Masahiro Shinoda (b. 1931), with great restraint and grace, depicts the tragic love of a poor young woman and a deserter in the region along the Japan Sea, the "darker" side of the main island, in the 1930s. Desertion was the most serious crime in the Japanese military and deserters were dealt the death penalty. However, it was difficult to catch them because the authorities were unable to publicize the deserter problem for fear of demoralizing the Japanese fighting spirit. Shinoda, a key director of the Japanese New Wave, chose Tsutomu Minakami's story as the subject of Clouds at Sunset, the first film produced by Shinoda's own independent production company. In this powerful and moving drama, Shinoda's wife, Shima Iwashita, portrays an inn maid who gradually develops genuine affection for a traveling salesman who turns out to be a deserter. When she discovers his true identity, she utters the unspeakable, daring to cry out that he must survive no matter what.-KH