It’s finally happening! Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cloud was one of my most-anticipated movies of the year. There was so much hype, and everyone was alleging it to be one of the best of the year, though I had no idea when I’d be able to actually watch it myself. I kid you not, it was available to stream on a flight I took over the summer, so yes, I had a chance to watch Cloud. It was everything I’d hoped it would be.
Kurosawa’s crime thriller, like his best work, defies easy categorization. It’s a lot like Chime, his most recent short before Cloud, and a film I ranked as one of my favorites last year. Of Chime, I wrote, “To see Kurosawa back at the top of his game is nothing short of a privilege, and Chime, despite its short length, is liable to haunt you more than most anything else you see this year.” Cloud is even better, and finally, finally, the film is available to watch at home. You can now rent Cloud on video-on-demand or catch it streaming on The Criterion Channel. Learn more below:
Per Criterion: A gonzo revenge thriller, a darkly comic anticapitalist critique, and a dizzying plunge into the alienated abyss of the internet, CLOUD is among the most audacious genre experiments to date from master of psychological tension Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Factory worker Yoshii (Masaki Suda) quits his job to pursue his side business reselling questionably procured items online at outrageous markups. His profits quickly grow—but so does his list of enemies, and the petty grievances of his disgruntled clients and competitors soon take on a terrifying life of their own. With slow-burn precision, Kurosawa constructs a dread-inducing vision of digital depersonalization that ignites into something altogether shocking and unpredictable.
In our review of Cloud out of last year’s Venice International Film Festival, we wrote, “Cloud is another morbidly curious look at a sick world from Kurosawa, pulling from his exemplary body of work to remind us that his films can be as sharp and surprising as they are dark and dangerous.” In my own words, Cloud was messy, apathetic, chaotic, and just all around phenomenal. It’s impossible to conceptualize what Cloud really is in genre terms, but it’s going to rock your world regardless.
Online, the social media reaction has been nothing short of phenomenal. Seriously, Cloud is on the short-list for the best movies of the year, genre or otherwise. Check out what some fans have had to say about Kurosawa’s newest masterpiece:
What do you think? Any plans to check out Cloud? As a reminder, the film is streaming on Criterion Channel and is available for rental on VOD. Let me know your thoughts on Cloud when you check it out over on Twitter @Chadiscollins.
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