is a 1959 Japanese drama directed by
Yasujirō Ozu
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He began his career during the era of silent films, and his last films were made in colour in the early 1960s. Ozu first made a number of short comedies, before turning to more serious themes in t ...
, starring
Nakamura Ganjirō II
was a Japanese kabuki and film actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1941 and 1980, directed by notable filmmakers such as Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed t ...
and
Machiko Kyō
was a Japanese actress who was active primarily in the 1950s.
Early life and education
Kyō, an only child, was born in Osaka in 1924. Her father left when she was five years old, and she was raised by her mother and grandmother. She adopted ...
. It is a
remake
A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...
of Ozu's own
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...
''
A Story of Floating Weeds'' (1934) and considered one of the
greatest films ever made
This is a list of films considered the best in national and international surveys of critics and the public.
Some surveys focus on all films, while others focus on a particular genre or country. Voting systems differ, and some surveys suffe ...
.
Plot
During the summer of 1958 at a seaside town on the
Inland Sea, a travelling theatre troupe arrives by ship, headed by the troupe's lead actor and owner, Komajuro. While the rest of the troupe goes around the town to publicize their appearance, Komajuro visits his former mistress, Oyoshi, who runs a small eatery in the town. They have a grown-up son, Kiyoshi, who works at the post office as a mail clerk and is saving up to study at the university. However, he doesn't know who Komajuro is, having been told he is his uncle. Komajuro invites Kiyoshi to go fishing at sea.
When Sumiko, the lead actress of the troupe and Komajuro's present girlfriend, learns that Komajuro is visiting his former mistress, she becomes jealous and visits Oyoshi's eatery. Komajuro chases her away quickly and confronts her. He tells her to back off from his son and decides to break up with her. Sumiko calls Komajuro an ingrate and reminds him of the times she has helped him out in the past.
One day, Sumiko offers Kayo, a young actress from the same troupe, some money and asks her to seduce Kiyoshi. Although Kayo is initially reluctant, she agrees after Sumiko's insistence without being told why. However, after knowing Kiyoshi for some time, she falls for him and decides to tell Kiyoshi the truth about how their relationship started. Kiyoshi is undaunted and says it does not matter to him, and eventually their relationship is discovered by Komajuro.
Komajuro confronts Kayo, who tells him of Sumiko's setup, but only after asserting she now loves Kiyoshi and is not doing it for money. Komajuro attacks Sumiko and tells her to disappear from his sight. She pleads for reconciliation but he is indignant.
Meanwhile, the troupe's old-fashioned
kabuki
is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.
Kabuki is thought to ...
-style performances fail to attract the town's residents; the other actors pursue their own romantic diversions at local businesses, including a brothel and a barber shop. Eventually, the manager of the troupe abandons them and a principal supporting player absconds with the remaining funds. Komajuro has no choice but to disband the troupe, and they meet for a melancholy last night together. Komajuro then goes to Oyoshi's place and tells her of the break-up. Oyoshi persuades him to tell Kiyoshi the truth about his parenthood and then stay together with them at her place as a family. Komajuro agrees.
When Kiyoshi returns with Kayo, Komajuro becomes so enraged that he beats both of them repeatedly, leading to a tussle between Kiyoshi and him. To stifle the brawl, Oyoshi reveals to him the truth about Komajuro. Kiyoshi first responds that he had suspected it all along, but then refuses to accept Komajuro as his father, saying he has coped well without one so far and goes upstairs. Taking in Kiyoshi's reaction, Komajuro decides to leave after all. Kayo wants to join Komajuro to help him achieve success for the family, but a chastened Komajuro asks her to stay to help make Kiyoshi a fine man, as Komajuro's always hoped. Kiyoshi later has a change of heart and goes downstairs to look for Komajuro, but his father has already left, and Oyoshi tells Kiyoshi to let him go.
At the train station in town, Komajuro tries to light a cigarette but has no matches. Sumiko, who is sitting nearby, offers him a light. She asks where he is going and asks to accompany him since she now has no place to go. They reconcile and Sumiko decides to join Komajuro to start anew under another
impresario
An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer.
Hist ...
at
Kuwana.
Cast
Production
''Floating Weeds'', Ozu's only film for
Daiei
, based in Kobe, Hyōgo, Kobe, is one of the largest supermarket chains in Japan. In 1957, Isao Nakauchi founded the chain in Osaka near Sembayashi Station on the Keihan train line. Daiei is now under a restructuring process supported by Maruben ...
, was produced at the studio's urging after he completed ''
Good Morning
"Good morning" is a common greeting in the English language. It may also refer to:
Television
* ''Good Morning!!!'' (Australian show), a children's show
* ''Good Morning'' (New Zealand show), a daytime talk show
* ''Good Morning'' (Russian ...
'', which had fulfilled the director's contractual obligation to complete one film per year for
Shochiku
() is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not ...
. Ozu first planned to remake ''
A Story of Floating Weeds'' for Shochiku, and the title was intended to be ''A Ham Actor'' ( ', "radish actor"); the stars (most of whom were attached to Shochiku) were to include
Eitarō Shindō
was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in more than 300 films between 1936 and 1975. He is most closely associated with the work of Kenji Mizoguchi, with whom he made twelve films.
Selected filmography
* ''Sisters of the Gion'' (1936)
* ''Ar ...
and
Chikage Awashima
was a Japanese film and stage actress.
Life
A graduate from Takarazuka Music and Dance School and member of the Takarazuka Revue, Chikage Awashima entered the Shochiku film studios and made her film debut in 1950. She appeared in films of nume ...
as the primary leads,
Masami Taura and
Ineko Arima
Ineko Arima (有馬稲子, Arima Ineko) is a Japanese film actress born on 3 April 1932 in Osaka. She is known for her work with director Yasujirō Ozu.
Selected filmography
Film
Television
Honours
*Medal with Purple Ribbon
are medals a ...
as the youth leads, and
Isuzu Yamada
was a Japanese stage and screen actress whose career spanned seven decades.
Biography
Yamada was born in Osaka as Mitsu Yamada, the daughter of Kusudu Yamada, a shinpa actor specialising in onnagata roles, and Ritsu, a geisha. Under her mother ...
as the former mistress. Filming had been delayed in 1958 due to an unexpectedly mild winter in the
Niigata region, where Ozu had hoped to film a snowy location; when the Daiei opportunity arose, he followed through on his plan to move filming to a summer setting in seaside
Wakayama Wakayama may refer to:
*Wakayama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan
*Wakayama (city)
Wakayama City Hall
is the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 351,391 in 157066 househol ...
. The actors were replaced mostly with Daiei contract players, and the title was changed in deference to
Nakamura Ganjirō II
was a Japanese kabuki and film actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1941 and 1980, directed by notable filmmakers such as Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed t ...
, the respected kabuki theater star who played the lead. (When Kiyoshi charges Komajūrō with hamming it up, the actor asserts that it's the style of acting that his public pays to see.)
In a bit of
stunt casting, Ozu did secure
Kōji Mitsui
was a Japanese movie, TV, and stage actor. He appeared in more than 150 films from 1925 to 1975, including 29 of ''Kinema Junpo''’s annual Top-10 winners and three of its 10 best Japanese films of all time. In 2000 the magazine named him one ...
from Shochiku for his seventh and final role for the director, as the character who drives the subplot about the amorous escapades of the supporting players; as Hideo Mitsui, the actor had portrayed the protagonist's son in the 1934 version.
The troupe is first observed performing a scene from a play about
Chuji Kunisada, a 19th-century historical figure who was romanticised as a forest-dwelling
Robin-Hood-like hero in a number of plays, novels, and films. In the scene shown, Kunisada (played by Sumiko) is taking his leave of his faithful companions, Gantetsu and Jōhachi, on Mt. Akagi. Wild geese flying south for the winter and crows returning to their nests are used as images of parting. Ozu includes a small joke in the staging of the scene to confirm that this is not a very polished troupe of actors. When Gantetsu delivers the line, "The wild geese are calling as they fly towards the southern skies," he points off-stage into the auditorium. So when Sumiko, as Chuji, turns stage left to deliver the line "And the moon is descending behind the western mountains," she is actually facing east.
Despite
Nakamura Ganjirō II
was a Japanese kabuki and film actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1941 and 1980, directed by notable filmmakers such as Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed t ...
's fame as a noted star of kabuki theater, he is shown applying full makeup but not actually filmed onstage, though he is heard off-screen as the audience watches him perform and players backstage lament the show's poor attendance. Nakamura recalled that he and Machiko Kyo got sick with a cold after filming the confrontation scene between their characters in the rain.
Kazuo Miyagawa
was a Japanese cinematographer.
Career
Born in Kyoto, Miyagawa was taken with sumi-e Chinese ink painting from the age of eleven and began to sell his work as an illustrator while a teenager. He became interested in the cinema during the 1920s, ...
served as cinematographer for the film, replacing Ozu's favorite cameraman, Yuharu Atsuta. In an interview, Ozu described the film as an experiment on how to bring life to an old fashioned story in a modern setting and noted that by working with Miyagawa, he realized that different colors required varying degrees of lighting.
Release
Theatrical
''Floating Weeds'' was released on November 17, 1959. It was released theatrically in the United States by Altura Films International on November 24, 1970.
Home media
''Floating Weeds'' was released on Region 1 DVD by
The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...
on April 20, 2004, as a two-disc set with ''A Story of Floating Weeds''. An alternate audio track contains a
commentary
Commentary or commentaries may refer to:
Publications
* ''Commentary'' (magazine), a U.S. public affairs journal, founded in 1945 and formerly published by the American Jewish Committee
* Caesar's Commentaries (disambiguation), a number of works ...
by
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
.
Subtitles for the Criterion edition of ''Floating Weeds'' take liberty with lines delivered by
Kōji Mitsui
was a Japanese movie, TV, and stage actor. He appeared in more than 150 films from 1925 to 1975, including 29 of ''Kinema Junpo''’s annual Top-10 winners and three of its 10 best Japanese films of all time. In 2000 the magazine named him one ...
early in the film: while wandering through the village in
Kabuki
is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.
Kabuki is thought to ...
costume promoting the troupe's appearance, he is asked his name by a prostitute he considers unattractive. He replies "Kinnosuke" rather than his character's actual name, Kichinosuke. When she appears surprised, he clarifies that he’s "Kin-Chan," teasing her that he is the famous Kabuki actor
Kinnosuke Nakamura
(November 20, 1932 – March 10, 1997) was a Japanese people, Japanese kabuki actor. Born , son of kabuki actor Nakamura Tokizō III, he entered kabuki and became the first in the kabuki tradition to take the name Nakamura Kinnosuke. He took on hi ...
, who was popularly known as "Kin-Chan," an abbreviation of his name appended with "Chan," a Japanese honorific of endearment. However, counter to Mitsui's clear pronunciations, the Criterion subtitle has him first identify himself as "Mifune," and after her surprise he says "Toshiro," presumably an effort to make the exchange relevant to Western audiences by using
the name of a more identifiable Japanese star.
Reception
''Floating Weeds'' is widely acclaimed by film critics. Roger Ebert gave the film four stars out of four, and included it on his "Ten Greatest Films of all Time" in 1991. Alan Bett of ''
The Skinny'' gave the film a full five stars. Tom Dawson of
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
gave it four stars out of five. Allan Hunter of ''
gave it a 9/10.
The film holds a 96% rating on
based on reviews from 23 critics. The site's critical consensus states: "Floating Weeds boasts the visual beauty and deep tenderness of director Yasujiro Ozu's most memorable films -- and it's one of the few the master shot in color."
In 2002, American film director
listed ''Floating Weeds'' as one of the best films of all time. He said, "Ozu is the world's greatest director film geeks have never heard of. A poet, humanitarian, stylist, innovator - and a brilliant actors' director. I would recommend the film to anyone with a heart who knows direction is about more than camera moves." In 2009 the film was ranked at No. 36 on the list of the ''Greatest Japanese Films of All Time'' by Japanese film magazine
. In 2012, Spanish film director
, as well as two other directors, listed the film as one of the greatest ever made.