STORIES OF FLOATING WEEDS (DVD/1.33/MONO/1934-B&W/1959/ENG-SUB) DVD

Ukigusa Monogatari
One of Yasujiro Ozu's early masterworks, it concerns an actor, Kihachi (Takeshi Sakomoto) leading a struggling theater troupe who returns to the provincial town where he fathered a child years before. He seeks out his son, now a young man, and the woman who bore him, spending a great deal of time with them. To avoid angering his mistress Otaka (Rieko Yagumo), and to protect himself, he pretends to the young man that he is his uncle. Nonetheless, Otaka eventually learns the truth and persuades one of the company's ingénues to seduce the boy, hoping to hurt him and his father indirectly. Her plan backfires when the two fall in love, and the troupe, which is already on the brink of failure, is forced to disband. At length, Kihachi realizes he must move on and returns to Otaka. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide

Floating Weeds
This 1959 Ozu production centers on the likable but fallible leader of an itinerant acting troupe ("floating weeds" being the Japanese name for such groups), Kimajuro, played brilliantly by Ganjiro Nakamura. The film opens on a lazy, stagnant river as the troupe lays spread about on a boat deck drifting downstream. It's obvious that they're a ragged bunch as they sit fanning themselves and smoking on deck. The boat pulls into a quiet fishing village where the troupe proceeds to canvass the town, hanging up posters and performing impromptu stunts for the inhabitants. Kimajuro and his actress mistress, Sumiko (Machiko Kyo), head to the theatre and secure their cramped quarters above the theatre's main hall. Kimajuro leaves to pay a visit to a local saki bar owned by Oyoshi (Haruko Sugimura), who, years previous, had conceived a child with Kimajuro. The child has grown into a strapping young man, Kiyoshi (Hiroshi Kawaguchi), who has a good job at the post office. Kimajuro, although clearly proud of his son, has refused to take responsibility for the child and Kiyoshi thinks Kimajuro is merely his uncle. Unbeknownst to Kimajuro, Sumiko has discovered his secret, and, infuriated, hires a young actress to seduce Kiyoshi. Terrified that his son is falling for this woman of loose morals, Kimajuro has to decide what's most important: keeping his secret safe or saving his son by acknowledging his paternity. ~ Brian Whitener, All Movie Guide

Cast n/a

Crew Yasujiro Ozu - Director Takanobu Saito - Composer (Music Score) Kojun Saito - Composer (Music Score) Kazuo Miyagawa - Cinematographer Masaichi Nagata - Producer Yasujiro Ozu - Screenwriter Kogo Noda - Screenwriter Tadao Ikeda - Play Author Yasujiro Ozu - Director Takanobu Saito - Composer (Music Score) Kojun Saito - Composer (Music Score) Kazuo Miyagawa - Cinematographer Masaichi Nagata - Producer Yasujiro Ozu - Screenwriter Kogo Noda - Screenwriter Tadao Ikeda - Play Author

Ukigusa Monogatari
Ozu's silent film, inspired by The Barker, a much inferior American film on a similar theme, might seem to inevitably be swamped by sentimentality, given the plot outline. But the director's genius adroitly avoids any hint of mawkishness by grounding the film in the most mundane details of daily life as he fashions one of the most powerfully moving works of his early career. The pleasure taken by the actor in a moment of peace for a cigarette, water dropping through the roof of the rickety theater into bowls, the horny supporting actors of the troupe always on the make -- these and dozens of other carefully observed fragments of the ebb and flow of the quotidian, shot in the director's characteristically understated visual style, emphasize his belief that everything his eye falls upon has value and meaning. Yet the most transient expression of the human face never escapes him -- one has only to see the bitter disappointment of the twice-abandoned "wife." ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
 

Floating Weeds
Like the majority of director Yasujiro Ozu's work, Floating Weeds is concerned with family relationships and interactions between different generations. It also shares the director's amazingly serene yet appealing visual style, created through the use of the simplest means possible: no tracking shots and no use of dissolves or fades, just long, steady shots, often in a wide frame, interrupted only by judicious editing, with occasional symbolic or atmospheric "pillow shots," which offer moments of contemplative pause. The effect is hypnotic and enthralling and used to particularly good effect in Weeds. The script is also typically Ozu, dealing with a subject that could easily fall into heavy melodrama or even soap opera, but which for the most part skillfully avoids this through the use of implication and nuance rather than direct statement; it is only in the second half that the schematics of the story come into play a bit too strongly. The actors are uniformly excellent, creating a genuine ensemble piece (entirely appropriate for a film dealing with a troupe of actors) and providing many memorable moments, such as the touching final segment in which Machiko Kyo deftly signaling her love and forgiveness of Ganjiro Nakamura merely by the manner in which she pours a glass of wine for him. Weeds is a film of quiet beauty, a gem that discriminating viewers will treasure. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
 

(no awards)

General Specifications: Language Options: Japanese Subtitle Options: English Sound Processing: DD5.0: Dolby Digital w/ 5 full-range channels. Includes 3 for the front speakers & 2 surround channels for the rear speakers DD1: Dolby Digital Mono Additional Features: A Story of Floating Weeds (1934): New high-definition digital transfer with restored image Audio commentary by Japanese film historian Donald Richie New score by noted silent-film composer Donald Sosin New and improved English subtitle translation by Donald Richie Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition Floating Weeds (1959): New high-definition digital transfer with restored image and sound Audio commentary by film critic Roger Ebert Original theatrical trailer New and improved English subtitle translation by Donald Richie Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1: Pre-1954 Standard MPAA Rating: DVD Discs Included: 2 DVD Sides: 2 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 205 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- A Story of Floating Weeds 1. Credits 2. The Troupe Returns 3. Settling In 4. A Visit to the Patron 5. Fishing 6. Opening Night 7. Rain 8. Mother and Mistress Meet 9. A Scheme Is Hatched 10. Rendezvous 11. Love Blossoms 12. A Father's Anger 13. The Show Closes 14. Father and Son 15. Starting Over 16. Color Bars Side #2 -- Floating Weeds 1. Credits 2. The Troupe Returns 3. Drumming Up Business 4. Settling In 5. A Visit to the Patron 6. Opening Night 7. Looking for Love 8. Fishing 9. The Mistress' Discovery 10. Mother and Mistress Meet 11. A Scheme Is Hatched 12. First Date 13. Stranded 14. Love Blossoms 15. A Father's Anger 16. No Credit 17. Moving On 18. Where's Kiyoshi? 19. Father and Son 20. Starting Over 1. Color Bars