Floating Weeds
1959
In this sly and subtle Japanese morality tale, Yasujiro Ozu observes a stray Kabuki troupe as they follow their leader to a small coastal village. The troupe puts on a shambling performance and questions their vocation. Meanwhile, the troupe leader visits an old mistress and their illegitimate son who believes the man to be his .. Read more
| Starring | Ganjiro Nakamura, Machiko Kyo, Ayako Wakao, Hiroshi Kawaguchi |
|---|---|
| Director | Yasujiro Ozu |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
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Floating Weeds
In this sly and subtle Japanese morality tale, Yasujiro Ozu observes a stray Kabuki troupe as they follow their leader to a small coastal village. The troupe puts on a shambling performance and questions their vocation. Meanwhile, the troupe leader visits an old mistress and their illegitimate son who believes the man to be his uncle. Allegiances and alliances are thrown into doubt as the troupe leader's past and current lovers clash, as do various generations when the jealous current mistress promotes a romance between a young actress and the leader's young son.
| Starring | Ganjiro Nakamura, Machiko Kyo, Ayako Wakao, Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Haruko Sugimura |
|---|---|
| Director | Yasujiro Ozu |
| Studio | ARTIFICIAL EYE |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 59 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
| Language | DVD: Japanese |
| Subtitles | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 26 Jan 2004 Production year: 1959 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (6)
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Based on the same story that inspired his silent 1934 drama, A Story of Floating Weeds, this was among Yasujiro Ozu's weakest postwar pictures. For once his nostalgic yearnings seem to have got the better of him, as there are few contemporary resonances in this story of a travelling Kabuki player who hurts his mistress by interfering in the love life of his estranged son. In fact, the film is most notable for marking the director's only collaboration with Kenji Mizoguchi's regular cinematographer, Kazuo Miyagawa, who gives the seascapes a lustre that only occasionally illuminates the rest of the production.
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This remake of Story of Floating Weeds, a movie Ozu made in the '30s, is unusual for being one of the Master's few... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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16 out of 23 people found this review helpful
A wonderful tale, wonderfully told
A remake by Ozu of his own 1934 original, Floating Weeds explores themes of love and regret, duty and longing. Nakamura is the head of a travelling theatre group who come to perform on an island where lives his old flame and his son, who knows him only as Uncle.
Against this simple backdrop, Ozu tells an involving tale of jealousy, honour, malice, self-sacrifice, hidden affection and repressed emotions. If this sounds all too heavy, then the surprise is that it isn't. Floating Weeds is a studied, often pensive film about the choices we make in life and the effect they have not only on ourselves, but those around us. It's also a film with a great deal of warmth to it, and flashes of dry humour.
If you've never seen an Ozu movie before, this would make for a great introduction. Highly recommended, this fails to garner 5 stars purely for the fact that the transfer looks a little washed-out in places, making me suspect this isn't the best available version that could have been used. -
Most recent members' review
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16 out of 23 people found this review helpful
A wonderful tale, wonderfully told
A remake by Ozu of his own 1934 original, Floating Weeds explores themes of love and regret, duty and longing. Nakamura is the head of a travelling theatre group who come to perform on an island where lives his old flame and his son, who knows him only as Uncle.
Against this simple backdrop, Ozu tells an involving tale of jealousy, honour, malice, self-sacrifice, hidden affection and repressed emotions. If this sounds all too heavy, then the surprise is that it isn't. Floating Weeds is a studied, often pensive film about the choices we make in life and the effect they have not only on ourselves, but those around us. It's also a film with a great deal of warmth to it, and flashes of dry humour.
If you've never seen an Ozu movie before, this would make for a great introduction. Highly recommended, this fails to garner 5 stars purely for the fact that the transfer looks a little washed-out in places, making me suspect this isn't the best available version that could have been used. -
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In this sly and subtle Japanese morality tale, Yasujiro Ozu observes a stray Kabuki troupe as they follow their leader to a small coastal village. The troupe puts on a shambling performance and ... -