Synopsis
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.
A Story of Floating Weeds
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Alternative Titles
Historia de una hierba errante, Ukikusa monogatari, История о плывущих водорослях, Повесть о плавучей траве, Histoire d'herbes flottantes, 浮草物语, Vízsodorta fűszálak története, Storia di erbe fluttuanti, 부초 이야기, Opowieść dryfujących trzcin
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Japan
Releases by Country
Japan
23 Nov 1934
- Theatrical
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Surprised to discover that, decades before OnlyFans, there was a viable resale market for used Dalmatian costumes.
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The first Ozu film that feels distinctly "Japanese." Which is funny because for a time many believed Ozu's films were "too Japanese" to be appreciated by western audiences. The irony? Ozu was making western-inflected, Hollywood tributes and films about Japan's modernization since the beginning of his career long before anyone from the West even really knew about him. To call his films "too Japanese" is to be entirely unfamiliar with the kinds of stories he frequently told, which wouldn't grow in popularity in the West till after the war. A STORY OF FLOATING WEEDS is the first film I've seen from Ozu that feels like a period piece. Every character wears traditional Japanese garb, the setting reflects traditional kabuki theater and performances,…
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It may be impossible to compute, but given how often fathers are physically or emotionally absent in the films of Ozu Yasujirô it is safe to say that his own situation growing up left a lasting impression on him. Ozu, who spent the majority of his life living with his mother, did not have much contact with his father during his formative years, a once-prosperous man who died in 1933, a year before he made the silent A Story of Floating Weeds (Ukikusa monogatari).
The film opens with the arrival of an itinerant kabuki troupe to a provincial town. The impoverished band is led by a good-natured man named Kihachi (Sakamoto Takeshi, who played a similar character…
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When considering the works of Yasujirō Ozu, people often overlook his silent films. His career was long and his craft was honed in the silent era. A Story of Floating Weeds is one of his last silent films, and it showcases the maturity which his later films possessed. The themes are serious and the filmmaking sincere. The film's craft clearly displays the rule-breaking camera placement Ozu was known for and scenes are composed from beautifully simple shots, often of actors looking directly into the camera. The plot is one about fatherhood, a common Ozu backdrop. It's also a film about class, specifically in regards to a poor man wanting better for his son.
A Story of Floating Weeds is about…
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Having already seen Floating Weeds, there were no surprises here, but I still found myself a little choked up at the end. The story is as effective as a silent, black-and-white film as it was in its later form. It's a well crafted melodrama that captures the emotional complexity of the head of an acting troupe as he navigates the dissolution of his troupe while reconnecting with his son (who is ignorant of the man's status as his father). He shows profound integrity when everything blows up, and that moment has twice now stunned me.
In grey tones, the film does not lack for powerful imagery. Father and son fishing together, fluidly moving their fishing lines back and forth, is…
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Yasujiro Ozu was a true master at his craft. Theatrical performances and gestures were predominant during the silent era for enhancing the dramatism effect intended, but Ozu (and Mikio Naruse too, for that matter) knew that the stories are what are left in the audience's hearts, and even the images can stay there too. Hence, a striking cinematography is displayed in front of our eyes, creating an aura of either wonder or tension, depending on what the scene intends to create. Although the majority prefers the remake, the black-and-white, silent nature of Ukikusa Monogatari captures a much more tragic feeling, all the more nostalgic.
And.... unlike the remake, this one had me in tears towards the ending.
98/100
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I was going through my schedule for my Yasujirō Ozu binge and almost left out this film because I wanted to get to his talkies quicker but I am so glad that I didn't as A Story of Floating Weeds is easily my favourite from Ozu thus far.
Up to this point, I had really liked and even sort of loved That Night's Wife and Tokyo Chorus but found them to be riddled with problems and that they were severely underdeveloped, that was mainly the case for That Night's Wife. I had enjoyed his work but it was frustrating to not feel the same love and appreciation for his work as many others had felt so. Yet, I knew that…
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Welcome to Juno's Flavours of Ozu. An Ozu season created by one of Letterboxd's best members.
One of the few early Ozus that feels like one of his later works. Therefore, it is unsurprising that this would be remade (as was the other silent highlight, I Was Born, But...). This has a structure that would become the director's own: a pleasantly meandering opening act where it is not clear what is truly apropos (in a strict narrative sense), only for the pressure to build and for the relationship dynamics to create their own narrative in the remainder of the film.It is a satisfying formula that creates reality, empathy and well drawn characters. The relationship led storytelling is wonderful to…
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The melodrama here is so explosive compared to how sublimated sorrow and anger would become by Ozu's talkie late period, but even so the pervasive mood here is one of melancholy. Ozu films Otsune's home as an angular collision of walls that suggest a lifetime of lies of omission to her now-grown son have manifested in her surroundings. When Kihachi attempts to bond with his son without letting the man know of his true relation to him, we get a scene of them fishing that ends with a low-placed shot of their legs standing in the water as they both calmly cast their rods, the lack of visible mouths hinting at the silence that hangs between them.
Even the bits…
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A Story of Floating Weeds. The style feels completely realized, though it’s not the same as Ozu’s later style: it’s as if Ozu peaked at this stage, and then still chose to move on. The vibe suggests von Sternberg a bit, mostly in the suppression of facial expression, especially with the show-biz women, one of whom constantly pulls on a cigarette to enhance the Sternberg resemblance. It’s interesting to see that Ozu’s “pillow shots” are present at this point but somewhat different from what they would become. Typically, Ozu here starts a scene transition by cutting to a shot of inanimate things, a shot in some way cued by the dialogue - but these shots tend to be strikingly composed,…
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ozu goes full melodrama??? wild to watch this so soon after I WAS BORN, BUT... especially because he's one of those filmmakers who is so regarded as an auteur that often his films get lumped together like "ozu films are like X, Y, and Z" but he doesn't get enough credit for his tonal variety. it's funny how i figured out the father/son relationship solely from the choreography of them fishing together, which ozu fully reuses in THERE WAS A FATHER. getting very aquainted with takeshi sakamoto this week as it turns out. he's good! there's a hiroshi shimizu retrospective coming up in new york so i guess i'll be seeing even more of him soon!
[intro by joan jonas, live accompaniment by ben model]