Stories of Floating Weeds (A Story of Floating Weeds / Floating Weeds) (The Criterion Collection)
by Yasujirô Ozu
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Ayako Wakao, Ganjirô Nakamura, Haruko Sugimura, Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Machiko KyôDirector: Yasujirô Ozu
Brand: Image Entertainment
Cinematographer: Hideo Shigehara
Editor: Hideo Shigehara
Cinematographer: Kazuo Miyagawa
Writer: Yasujirô Ozu
Producer: Masaichi Nagata
Writer: Kôgo Noda
Writer: Tadao Ikeda
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Japanese (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
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
Model: FLO060DVD
Studio: Criterion
Movie Reviews of Stories of Floating Weeds (A Story of Floating Weeds / Floating Weeds) (The Criterion Collection)
Movie Review: Same Story, Two Movies and Ozu's Mastery in Both
Summary: 5 Stars
What a treat to see two masterworks from director Yasujiro Ozu, both telling the same story but separated by 25 years of filmmaking experience. Both are accomplished but in subtly different ways that allow one to appreciate the prodigious skill behind 1934's "A Story of Floating Weeds" and then a master's fully realized artistry in 1959's extended color remake, "Floating Weeds". The story in both films focuses on an over-the-hill Kabuki actor who brings his troupe to a small town for hopefully a successful run at the local theater. His name is Kihachi in the first movie and Komajuro in the second. It turns out they have landed in the town where his former wife lives, raising their now grown son by herself. The young man believes the actor to be his uncle, and as a family unit, they all bond much to the consternation of his mistress, the leading actress of the troupe. After a fiery confrontation with the actor in a torrential downpour, she exacts revenge by hiring a younger actress to seduce the son. Even though the young couple falls in love, the damage has been done and the actor's dream of his son's future success shattered in a fit of familial rage that leads toward a bittersweet ending.
As he proves with classics such as "Tokyo Story" and "Early Summer", Ozu makes the most seemingly mundane events seem powerfully defining, and conversely, he enhances dramatic events by insinuating rather than highlighting them. The director minimizes the inherent melodrama by cutting to the core of human emotions. The 1934 silent version has an almost Murnau-like lyricism and often beatific imagery made all the more impressive by Ozu's immaculate sense of composition. Even at this early stage, he almost never moves the camera and has the camera positioned at eye level as if one was sitting on a tatami mat, the same technique he would use throughout his career. What results is a very Japanese aesthetic applied to a story with universal themes. The optional piano accompaniment, composed just for the Criterion release, enhances the drama, though it feels somewhat anachronistic given the Schumann-like, European-sounding rolling interludes. The 1959 remake is Ozu's first color film and incredibly vibrant thanks to the expert cinematography of Kazuo Miyagawa, who did similar duties on Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon" and Kenji Mizoguchi's "Ugetsu". The newer movie is also 33 minutes longer than the 1934 version, which allows Ozu to take his time in building the story and introduce subsidiary characters to give a stronger sense of setting. In comparison, the earlier film feels more emotionally resonant, perhaps because the lack of dialogue makes the actors more expressionistic, but the 1959 version feels more complete in its portrayal of the story, even including some welcome comedy bits. The distinction makes the identical endings yield different emotions in me: sadder with the earlier version and somehow more accepting with the later film.
The acting is superbly understated in both films. In the central role of the theatrical artisan, Takeshi Sakamoto plays Kihachi more sympathetically than the older, more aggressive-looking Ganjiro Nakamura does in the later version as Komajuro. As the dejected mistress, Rieko Yagumo plays Otaka in the 1934 version in an almost Kabuki-like manner with a sinister edge, whereas the legendary Machiko Kyô ("Rashomon") portrays the renamed Sumiko with a sharper fury and more open resignation at the end. Both films contain the classic Ozu scene where the two characters yell vindictively at each other in a rainstorm as they stand under opposing eaves. The wife, Otsune in 1934 and Oyoshi in 1959, is portrayed more emotionally by Chuoko Iida in 1934 and on the stoic side by Haruko Sugimura in 1959 (she was the needy mother in 1951's "Early Summer" and the nasty daughter in 1953's "Tokyo Story"). The same contrast is evident with the son, portrayed more openly by Hideo Mitsui in 1934 (who returned for the 1959 version as a lecherous actor) and with rebellious surliness by Hiroshi Kawaguchi in the later version. Ozu regular Chishu Ryu shows up in a cameo as the theater owner in the 1959 film.
Criterion has done another excellent job in repackaging these films and the transfers are superlative. Commentary tracks are provided with both movies, a very informative one by film historian Donald Richie on the 1934 version and a more effusive one by Roger Ebert for the 1959 version. There is a trailer included with the later film. Viewing both movies is mandatory for any Ozu aficionado, as his subtle mastery is fascinating to see at both junctures in his career, made all the more intriguing by his unwavering aesthetic.
More Stories of Floating Weeds (A Story of Floating Weeds / Floating Weeds) (The Criterion Collection) reviews:
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1 2 3 4
Summary of Stories of Floating Weeds (A Story of Floating Weeds / Floating Weeds) (The Criterion Collection)
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