Stories of Floating Weeds (A Story of Floating Weeds (1934) / Floating Weeds (1959)) - Criterion Collection
by Yasujiro Ozu
(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Ch?ko Iida, Ganjiro Nakamura, Haruko Sugimura, Machiko Ky?, Takeshi SakamotoDirector: Yasujiro Ozu
Brand: Image Entertainment
Cinematographer: Hideo Shigehara
Editor: Hideo Shigehara
Cinematographer: Kazuo Miyagawa
Writer: Yasujiro Ozu
Producer: Masaichi Nagata
Writer: K?go Noda
Writer: Tadao Ikeda
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Japanese (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 205 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-04-20
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Criterion
DVD Reviews of Stories of Floating Weeds (A Story of Floating Weeds (1934) / Floating Weeds (1959)) - Criterion Collection
DVD Review: Great Japanese film
Summary: 5 Stars
A superb film. Ozu's "Floating Weeds" is a classic in the best sense. It ranks with the greatest of the Japanese films. Characterization, direction and filming all combine to tell the very human story in an utterly compelling and unforgettable way.DVD Review: Ozu is a master
Summary: 5 Stars
Yasujiro Ozu was perhaps the greatest obsessional filmmaker in history. Thus, it's no surprise that not only did he rework the same themes over and again in his films, but that he also redid earlier films of his own years later, such as 1932's I Was Born But... as 1959's Good Morning. The most famed examples of this trait are 1934's silent black and white A Story Of Floating Weeds (Ukikusa Monogatari), written by Ozu and Tadao Ikeda, and 1959's sound color film, Floating Weeds (Ukigusa), written by Ozu and K?go Noda. Both films, whose titular metaphor revolves around the lives of itinerant actors, tell basically the same tale, in slightly different ways, with differently named characters. They follow the ups and downs of the leader of a really bad theater troupe, on its last legs (not unlike the characters from Federico Fellini's first film, Variety Lights), who lands in a town and visits an old girlfriend who bore him a son. In both films, the son believes his father is really his uncle, and the major development in the films is how the father's jealous actress girlfriend tries to sabotage things by having a pretty young actress seduce the son, thus recapitulating the father's key moment in life, one the father believes ruined his chance at stardom and happiness.
If one is thinking that this is the stuff of pure melodrama, it is. But that's true only on the surface. This is where depth and execution of an art come into play. It also abnegates claims that Ozu eschewed plot in his films for melodrama is about nothing if but plot. While it's true he did not strive for A to B to C narratives, and preferred `organic' story growth, the fact is that all his films had plots, and good ones. But they were not plot driven, nor dependent upon the heavyhanded machinations most drama and films rely upon. The difference between having a plot and being plot driven is something most critics seem to not understand. Ozu simply removes the superfluous plot moments and adds contemplative, poetic, and metaphoric shots in their place, what are termed `pillow shots.' The emphasis is thus not on the driving, but the driver, of plot. After all, the tale of a parent who has a long lost child is not fresh, although the way it's told can be.
As for the films, the earlier one is actually the slightly better film, mostly because it's more concise- clocking in at 86 minutes vs. the two hour remake....In defense of the later film, it has more humor (one character from the troupe claims his name is Toshiro Mifune- the great star of so many Akira Kurosawa films; a nod to Ozu's rival), and the son's reaction to the news about his father seems a bit more mature and realistic than in the earlier film, while the mother seems more resigned to her lover's leaving, rather than being devastated- as in the earlier film....Another plus that the later film has is its use of color and symbolism, which is far more striking. The opening scene contrasts a lighthouse in the background with a foregrounded bottle. It is a stunning visual image, and such phallic symbols abound in the film, as bottles are repeatedly seen, and there is a scene where the local prostitutes tease the male troupe members as they suck on popsicles. We then see the lighthouse from other perspectives over the course of the film. The earlier film is not set at a seaside town, but in a rural area, and the scene of the father and son fishing is superior in the later film, for there is no oddly stylized synchronization of the pair tossing their fishing lines into the river, over and again, as in the 1934 film, and what the duo speak of- their views on the father's approach to acting, is far more cogent than in the silent version, whose major moment is when the father drops his wallet into the running water. The later version also mimetically puts the father and son in the position of the bottle in relation to the lighthouse at the film's opening. What this means, from a phallic perspective, is open to several interpretations. Another major difference between the two films is that the earlier film has more motion in it- literally. It was made before Ozu got caught in his tatami mat point of view mode, and therefore the emotion of the drama is recapitulated better in the earlier, more kinetic, film....Both A Story Of Floating Weeds and Floating Weeds are proof that not all obsessions result in negativity, a thing one might remind oneself of the next time someone speaks ill of that trait. They are also fine examples of what made Yasujiro Ozu a great artist, even if the art in them might fall just a bit shy of overall greatness. Viva obsesi?n!?
DVD Review: Twice the story
Summary: 5 Stars
Two versions: must mean Ozu thought it good enough to revisit.
The first (1934) in black and white, is a little harsher in some ways. There's more humor in the lovely cinematically-rich color version. And, ultimately, more pathos. Truly, the '59 re-telling one of my favorites of all time!
DVD Review: Ozu, side by side
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a neat concept: two movies in one box (two DVDs) -- one is the director's own remake of the other. The 1934 silent (!) version called A STORY OF FLOATING WEEDS. And the 1959 color-rich version entitled simply FLOATING WEEDS.
I wasn't fond of either film. If you're not familiar with Ozu, he was a Japanese auteur with gentle sensibilities, creating stories that barely emerge out of ordinariness. These two films involve a traveling Kabuki troup who come to a town in which one of them has history. That's all I'll say about the plot.
However, I particularly want to recommend the film commentary by Roger Ebert. It accompanies the newer film FLOATING WEEDS, and it is full of valuable insight into Ozu's movie making techniques as well as his background.
The commentary for the silent film is by Donald Ritchie who seems to speak Japanese and seems to be very knowledgeable about Japanese films and culture.
I gave 3 stars to the films and added another for the commentaries.
Of Ozu films, I liked LATE SPRING a lot. Other people consider TOKYO STORY his masterpiece. Both are B&W.
DVD Review: On Roger Ebert's top ten films of all time list!
Summary: 5 Stars
The Criterion dvd does a great job and the transfer looks amazing. The movie is about a traveling group of actors who arrive in a small seaport town in south of Japan. The leader of the group Komajuro Arashi goes to visit his ex girlfriend and their son Kiyoshi, however kiyoshi believes Komajuro is his uncle. The lead actress Sumiko finds out he is visiting his ex and becomes jealous, in order to humiliate him she persuades a young actress in the group Kayo to seduce his son.
This movie plays like music, the actors are real with real emotions and even though it is in another country at another time anyone could identify with these characters.
The director Yasujiro Ozu has his own unique style unlike that of any movie i've seen. His camera does not follow the characters, each shot is like a painting that moves and breathes. Ozu also directed Tokyo story another in Roger Eberts great movie books and also on Time magazine's top 100 of all time, i haven't seen it but i will now and alot more of Ozu's work i'm sure.
A movie like this i really cant even explain why i love it, i just do, it's the type of movie that sticks with you and seeps into your subconcious. It's like you were there and actively experienced the movie, as if it became one of your own memories.
I'd recommend this movie to anyone that really loves film, not to someone that just watches to pass time or be temporarily entertained with special effects,(which i also enjoy at times) i'm glad i saw and continue to see movies like this in my late twenties if i saw this 10 years ago i wouldn't have got it or appreciated it.
Description of Stories of Floating Weeds (A Story of Floating Weeds (1934) / Floating Weeds (1959)) - Criterion Collection
In 1959, Yasujiro Ozu remade his 1934 silent classic A Story of Floating Weeds in color with the celebrated cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa (Rashomon, Ugetsu). Setting his later version in a seaside location, Ozu otherwise preserves the details of his elegantly simple plot wherein an aging actor returns to a small town with his troupe and reunites with his former lover and illegitimate son, a scenario that enrages his current mistress and results in heartbreak for all. Together, the films offer a unique glimpse into the evolution of one of cinema's greatest directors. A Story of Floating Weeds reveals Ozu in the midst of developing his mode of expression; Floating Weeds reveals his distinct style at its pinnacle. In each, the director captures the joy and sadness in everyday life.Providing a unique opportunity for the appreciation of Yasujiro Ozu's signature style, Criterion's definitive double-feature of A Story of Floating Weeds (1934) and Floating Weeds (1959) demonstrates the evolution of a master. Drawing inspiration from the now-obscure 1928 American carnival-troupe drama The Barker, Ozu first made A Story of Floating Weeds as a silent film (despite the advent of sound by that time), and Criterion's DVD features a sublime, newly recorded original score that sounds and feels like it's been part of the film all along. The film itself concerns a traveling Kabuki troupe faced with dramatic revelations as they perform in a rural village: Their master has had a son from a former lover whom he is visiting for the first time in a dozen years. Unaware of his parentage, the now-grown son thinks the visitor is his rarely seen uncle, and the master's mistress, upon discovering her lover's secret family, plots to undermine their relationship by urging a young actress to seduce the son, knowing that this would enrage the master's discreet familial pride. By story's end, all of these central relationships will undergo deep and resonant change.
Ozu was justifiably proud of this meticulous character study, in which his celebrated low-angle style began to assert itself. A quarter-century later, he remade the film as Floating Weeds, retaining the same story and characters, switching the setting to a seaside town, and demonstrating a more casual acceptance of human foibles that makes the 1959 version (Ozu's first film in color) relatively calm and compassionate when contrasted with the more turbulent tone of the '34 silent. Having grown as an artist, Ozu was at his stylistic peak here, having refined his style to the point where all camera movement had given way to flawless refinement of static compositions. These and other comparisons abound in the study of original and remake; to that end, commentaries by preeminent Japanese film expert and dialogue translator Donald Richie (on the '34 film) and film critic Roger Ebert (on Floating Weeds) provide astutely thorough appreciations of the parallel structures, stylistic evolution, and cultural specifics of films that, until the early 1970's, were considered "too Japanese" for an international audience. Never dry or pretentious, their scholarly analyses lend solid, sensitive context to the enjoyment of two of Ozu's most critically and commercially successful films. --Jeff Shannon
General DVDs
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Bestsellers in General DVDs
Best in ShowWarner Brothers; Release date: 2001-05-15; DVD
Best price: $6.22
Price in other shops:
The Lives of OthersSony; Release date: 2007-08-21; DVD
Best price: $7.49
Price in other shops:
Pan's LabyrinthVERDU,MARIBEL; Release date: 2007-05-15; DVD
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
Chocolat (Miramax Collector's Series)Disney; Release date: 2001-08-07; DVD
Best price: $5.97
Price in other shops:
AmelieDisney; Release date: 2002-07-16; DVD
Best price: $9.98
Price in other shops:
Life Is BeautifulDisney; Release date: 1999-11-09; DVD
Best price: $4.58
Price in other shops:
![Gomorrah (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] Image](/images/Gomorrah-Criterion-Collection-Blu-ray-B002M36R14-X.jpg)
Gomorrah (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]IMAGE ENT.; Release date: 2009-11-24; DVD
Best price: $23.48
Price in other shops:
Let The Right One InMAGNOLIA FILMS; Release date: 2009-03-10; DVD
Best price: $7.62
Price in other shops:
The Ultimate GiftUltimate; Release date: 2007-08-21; DVD
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops:
Slumdog MillionaireTCFHE; Release date: 2009-03-31; DVD
Best price: $5.42
Price in other shops:
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Eclipse Series 10 - Silent Ozu-Three Family Comedies (Tokyo Chorus, I Was Born But..., Passing Fancy) (Criterion Collection)Image Entertainment; Release date: 2008-04-22; DVD
Best price: $28.30
Price in other shops:
Ikiru - Criterion CollectionImage Entertainment; Release date: 2004-01-06; DVD
Best price: $24.93
Price in other shops:
Good Morning - Criterion CollectionOZU,YASUJIRO; Release date: 2000-08-22; DVD
Best price: $18.42
Price in other shops:
Ugetsu - Criterion CollectionImage Entertainment; Release date: 2005-11-08; DVD
Best price: $24.99
Price in other shops:
Sansho the Bailiff - Criterion CollectionIMAGE ENT.; Release date: 2007-05-22; DVD
Best price: $24.91
Price in other shops:
An Autumn Afternoon - Criterion CollectionIMAGE ENT.; Release date: 2008-09-30; DVD
Best price: $18.60
Price in other shops:
Eclipse Series #3 - Late Ozu (Early Spring / Tokyo Twilight / Equinox Flower / Late Autumn / The End of Summer) (Criterion Collection)Image Entertainment; Release date: 2007-06-12; DVD
Best price: $45.99
Price in other shops:
Late Spring - Criterion CollectionImage Entertainment; Release date: 2006-05-09; DVD
Best price: $25.00
Price in other shops:
Early Summer - Criterion CollectionHARA,SETSUKO; Release date: 2004-07-20; DVD
Best price: $24.38
Price in other shops:
Tokyo Story - Criterion CollectionImage Entertainment; Release date: 2003-10-28; DVD
Best price: $24.45
Price in other shops: