A Story Of Floating Weeds / Floating Weeds: Two Films By Yasujiro Ozu (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

I have only really discovered Ozu in the three years 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 of 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 immediatelyinnocent 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.

Like Kurosawa, pretty much all of Ozu's films are master pieces or close to it. I actually like the earlier 1934 film better. However, the 1959 version is him at his best in terms of film craft. The sound, editing, scenes, acting, cinematography are all better in the color version. I think I liked the earlier version as it was more succinct. I sometimes enjoy a directors early work which is more raw vs later finesse but not always. The 1959 version went a little too long for the story and this made it feel slow in my opinion. It doesn't really matter though which you prefer. They are both great. I have watched all of Kurosawa films thanks to criterion/eclipse series and older DVD copies of rare films I have. The majority of Ozu's work is also available thanks to Criterion. I have been working my way through his films for a couple decades now and have seen most of them. A master of film with beautiful stories of life. Often simple stories told in a way that can touch you deeply, are relatable and in the end humbling.

This two-disc set from Criterion is another marvel - it presents one of Yasujiro Ozu's most beautifully composed color films along with a rarely-seen black & white silent Ozu film on which it was based. The pictures are amazingly sharp and Kazuo Miyagawa's cinematography, though carefully restricted by Ozu, is at last restored to its original greatness. Japanese directors used Agfacolor for their first color efforts, and the effects of age have caused them to fade into some surprising shades.Despite this, one can be confident that one is looking at the very best possible transfer from the very finest print available. What one cannot, however, be confident of is the commentaries on both discs. I am thankful that Criterion is bringing out a new line of no-frills DVDs, including a volume of late Ozu masterpieces. For "Floating Weeds", however, Criterion made the unfortunate choice of Roger Ebert to provide a commentary. Since I have no stomach at all for Ebert, I had to pass on the commentary. Disc 2, however, features a quite welcome commentary by the foremost critic of Japanese film, Donald Richie.I sincerely hope that Criterion uses better judgement in assigning commentaries in future.

Having seen almost all Ozu films extant,including some of his earliest short silents, I recommend this as one of his supreme accomplishments. Yes, it is off his regular beaten path. His first color film and a somewhat overworked plot, but that is not what you go to an Ozu film for. For some reason this is the only one of his films that I never fail to cry at the start of. I get swept away into another simple and sublime day-to-day world. After seeing it in public once, two women seated behind me said "What was that all about?" Just life, just life.

One of the most beautiful films - every frame is a picture - Yasujiro Ozu was a master film maker - the typical Ozu Tatami shots, with a Zen like feel wrapped in his usual relationship storyline - look for the red!

The 1934 version is about 90 minutes, and the 1959, in color, about 2 hours.A traveling troupe comes to town to show their old-fashioned plays. Times have changed and the scarce audience prooves their tastes have too. However, it's hard for long settled habits to adapt. The company will have to break up eventually. In this scenario hangs another story: the manager of the company takes the opportunity to visit his old mistress, with whom he had a son. But the son, now about to go to college, still thinks the old actor is his uncle on another of his visits. This secret, kept for so long by his parents, is going to be revealed by a trick of fate.I like the color version better. The cinematography is beautiful, the composition and style is typical of Ozu's films. I think this was his first color film. But, in my opinion, it's too long and too slow. In the b&w version it takes the first 10 minutes just to get a hint at what it is all about. The color version is even slower. It goes increscendo in intensity, but too slow. If it hadn't been such a beautiful film (an Ozu film) I would have given up after half an hour. But it finally pays off to be a little patient.I find the other 3 great Ozu films (Late Spring, Early Summer & Tokyo Story) much more interesting and better overall, though it may be a minority opinion.

I've seen almost all Yasujiro Ozu's movies twice, and I rate Floating Weeds his best and most important. He really was at the top of his game when he made this. Great study of characters that Ozu and his actors make fascinating.