The Balloon (1956 film)

The Balloon (風船) is a 1956 Japanese drama film directed by Yūzō Kawashima. It was adapted by Kawashima and Shōhei Imamura from a novel by Jirō Osaragi.

Plot
In post-war Japan, a middle aged family man connects with a woman from his past. He has two children, an arrogant son who is torn between his mistress and a new lover, and a disabled daughter who gets mixed up in the affair.

Cast

 * Masayuki Mori as Haruki Murakami
 * Tatsuya Mihashi as Keikichi Murakami
 * Mie Kitahara as Mikiko Mikihara
 * Izumi Ashikawa as Tamako Murakami
 * Michiyo Aratama as Kumiko Yamana
 * Shirō Amakusa as Yamaguchi
 * Sachiko Hidari as Ruiko

Home media
In 2018, celebrating director Kawashima's 100th birthday, the Nikkatsu studio and VOD platform MUBI collaborated on a retrospective of his work to be available to stream in the US. The Balloon was among the films that were screened.