Customer Reviews

Floating Weeds [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have only really discovered Ozu in the last year or so and in my mid-- life it is like entering a bright new world. I have recently watched Floating Weeds for the second time (having ordered it on video). The first time I thought it an unusual film- though not one of his best. I have now completely revised this opinion and consider it a supreme masterpiece. Ozu astonishes with a quiet directness I find moving , completely absorbing and exhilarating to watch. I realize the theatre troup which comes into the town, contstructs its little Kabuki world and then fades into nothing is a perfect vehicle and symbol for what Ozu is consistently portraying in all his little plays: the transient , troubling beauty of the world . The transient troubling little dramas af human relationships.The imagery in all Ozu's films(but somehow epsecially this one) make me see images as I did in childhood : a turned corner on a side street, a scene of a harbor at dusk, a slightly surprised look on the face of middle-aged woman. Many of these movies were filmed when I was a child but I believe there is more than a kind odd 1950's familiarity. There is a kind of direct , unfettered appeal to sensations it is almost difficult to name. Something immediately
innocent and guileless in ourselves. Something always,already seeing and awake. The more I watch Ozu the more I see this and nowhere more than in this film. I kept chuckling at little, scene after little scene. Tiny little nuanced moments I kept rewinding to see if I'd really seen . Anyone who hasn't seen this film: Don't just watch it once.

This movie is actually a re-make of a silent film (Story of Floating Weeds) Ozu directed in the 1930's. The 1959 version has both sound and color. It was a collaboration between two studios, Shochiku (Ozu's film company) and Daiei. This was a rare chance for Ozu to work with Daiei's great cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa, the man who filmed such classics as Ugetsu and Rashomon. The Daiei studio also provided some of the leading ladies of their time, Machiko Kyo and Ayako Wakao.

The acting in this movie is first-rate and the cinematography is lyrical and beautiful. Pay attention to the rich colors in this film, especially the reds. The movie tells the story of a failing troupe of Kabuki players who drift (like floating weeds) into a fishing village for their next (and ultimately last) set of performances. As the movie progresses, we learn more about the characters and their many personality flaws. But these flaws only serve to make the characters more endearing, perhaps because we can see a little of ourselves and the people we know.

Many Westerners will prefer other Ozu films like Tokyo Story or Late Spring. But make no mistake; Floating Weeds is one of Ozu's best. The acting, story-telling and cinematography in this movie all combine to create a movie classic.

The films of Yasujiro Ozu always has a silent poignancy that has been unmatched in cinema. He is the creator of his own cinematic 'style'. It consists of low camera angles, no close-ups, no camera movement, the camera stays still. Probably the most quietly precise director of foreign cinema, he is know as the most 'Japanese' director of Japan's filmmakers. In this film he tells the story of an acting troupe who come to a small fishing town. To reveal more of the plot would be to deny you the dramatic impact of the film. While certainly not a technical marvel, it's raw power to move us remains untouched, and even more because of Ozu's direction. As we see the film evolve we feel him slowly coming toward us, but he doesn't creep at us, he puts his friendly hand on our shoulder and makes us feel comfortable. This film is a perfect introduction into Ozu's work, but also stands well by itself. From a scale of 1-10 I give this film a 9!

"Floating weeds" is without any doubt, the most absorbing masterpiece of this sublime director. A true personality gifted of pastoral poetry, around the profound familiar values. His refined visual style, the way that every single frame captures with unerring elegance and nuance those unsaid feelings which nourish the soul of every one of us.

A veteran kabuki actor now broken in years travels with his artistic team to a village that means so much for him. That is the town where an impetuous love took place, and the sublime fruit of that love left a child that now is a man of just twenty. He has always worried by him and financed all his studies. But now a sort of warm nostalgia persuades him to make a special visit. In order to meet him he introduces himself as an uncle. But the fierce jealous of his actual lover an actress of kabuki ruins everything he had planned. And so a set of unexpected events will take place around this apparently simple and affectionate of love and redemption.

In few words, a colossal and unique masterpiece in its style. One of the most expensive jewels of the cinema.

Trademark bloodbath by Yasujiro "King of Carnage" Ozu.

But seriously folks, this movie does seem full of shocking, "sensual delights" for him: riotous color, sexually mature women (no spinsters to marry off here), a young couple that *kisses* & has a post-coital hotel scene. But we still have inter-generational conflict & a wistful ending. Loved the making-up scene b/w the troupe leader & his mistress.

This is a beautiful movie that allows us to spend time with a group of characters in a small coastal Japanese village. A traveling kabuki troupe has come to town, and all the actors seem to be looking for love or at least some kind of fleeting attachment. We see the actors handing out flyers and trying to get women interested in them. Over time, though, we realize that the deeper theme of the movie is that of abandonment. The master (head of the troupe) abandoned his son, born to a woman he met in the village, and he never told the boy who his father was. Other kinds of abandonment start to crop up, along with the slow unravelling of the troupe. This may seem depressing, but it isn't, because this is balanced by moments of exquisite togetherness which are as fleeting as they are beautiful. Ozu is not a judgmental director, and we watch the characters in both their mistakes and small triumphs and have sense of being there together.

I love the visual of this movie. It's perfect. Everybody see it. I would give this movie as a gift for people who like colors.

A true family movie about a bad father coming back to save his son from the temptations of this world. It has beautiful photography and the story is very realistic and touching.

Yasujiro Ozu is unarguably one of the greatest directors of this world. This is a late Ozu piece, and it is somewhat disappointing. A story of a travelling company theater actor who returns to a village where he has left behind an illegitimate son, is the central theme in this piece. Although superbly acted, and beautifully shot, the direction (surprisingly), with the editing takes a few stumbles, and the end product is somewhat half-baked, and does not stir you as much as the classic Ozu pieces. I am glad that Ozu left us with the beautiful "Autumn Afternoon", made 3 years after this film, a dazzling return to form, and a sublime swan song. Nevertheless, for all you die-hard Ozu fans, "Floating Weeds" will be a welcome addition to your collection.