The name of this film (and the book it's derived from) is an enigma to me, but perhaps it's something lost in translation. Regardless, it's a very enjoyable mystery drama with noir overtones, helped considerably by its beautiful on-location cinematography along the Noto Kongo Coast in the wintertime. As the sea rages underneath Yase Cliff, so too do the emotions of the three women connected by an ad agency manager who has gone missing while on a business trip (Koji Nambara).
The first of these women is his wife (Yoshiko Kuga) of only one week, who was swept away by passion when she married him. The scene with their intense kiss in which she says "his overwhelming passion suffocated me" followed by him complimenting her "youthful body" in the bathtub after sex is brief, but pretty steamy for the period. Not surprisingly, she doesn't really know him all that well, and as she travels to snow country with one of his colleagues to see where he might be, she starts unraveling secrets about him. I won't spoil it, but one thing she discovers is that he was in a common-law relationship with a humble woman (Ineko Arima) before he married her. There's a third woman, the affluent wife of a friend (Hizuru Takachiho) who is involved as well, a character who brings in an underlying theme of the work, which is the trauma Japanese women had to endure following the country's defeat in WWII and the American occupation. Impoverished, some turned to prostitution, and this woman has worked hard to try to escape her shameful past.
Much of the story is told in flashback, and the pace is brisk - a plus if you ask me, as I took it as respecting the viewer's intelligence, but regardless, you'll have to pay attention to keep up. The narration from the wife, the twists and turns, and the rugged scenery all hooked me. Director Yoshitaro Nomura did a wonderful job with this story, and I'll have to seek more of his films out. This one was heading for an even higher rating, but fumbled a bit towards the end when it had the actual story told as a revision to one just hypothesized. It wasn't all bad as the variations were interesting and all the dots got connected, but how it suddenly came out of the other person seemed implausible. Better was that moment of real menace on the cliffs that preceded it. Overall though, a fine film, and definitely one to check out.
