Floating Weeds (Ukigusa) (Directors Suite) (1959)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Audio Commentary-by Dr. Wendy Haslem, Lecturer in Film at the Uni. of Melb. Theatrical Trailer-Original theatrical trailer Trailer-Directors Suite trailers
Rating
Year Of Production	1959
Running Time	114:09 (Case: 119)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (56:22)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Yasujiro Ozu
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Ganjiro Nakamura Machiko Kyô Ayako Wakao Hiroshi Kawaguchi Haruko Sugimura Hitomi Nozoe Chishû Ryû Kôji Mitsui Haruo Tanaka Yosuke Irie Hikaru Hoshi Mantarô Ushio Kumeko Urabe
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$34.95	Music	Kojun Saitô

     So begins Roger Ebert's review of Floating Weeds, found in his Great Movies archive on his website at rogerebert.com. His Great Movies concept started in late 1996, Floating Weeds was added in March, 1997. Elsewhere Ebert has been quoted as saying that Floating Weeds is among his all-time favourite ten films.

     Floating Weeds (Ukigusa) is translated literally as “Duckweed” in English. This plant floats in the water, without taking root; it drifts along with the tide of the water stream. Hence, this film is also known as Drifting Weeds, but the title is really a metaphoric allusion to the lives of the main characters of the story, an acting troupe who go from town to town and perform until audience interest dwindles and they are forced to move on.

     Floating Weeds was originally made as The Story of Floating Weeds in 1934, in a black-and-white, silent version. The 1959 re-make is a virtual shot-for-shot retelling of the 1934 film, albeit in colour and with sound.

     The basic synopsis of the film, according to ozu-san.com is as follows; a kabuki (or acting) troupe led by Komajuro Arashi (Nakamura Ganjiro) comes to a seaside town. He goes to see Oyoshi (Sugimura Haruko), a former lover with whom he fathered a son, Kiyoshi (Kawaguchi Hiroshi). Komajuro pretends to be Kiyoshi's uncle and strikes up a friendship with him. Due to bad weather, few come to see the kabuki and the troupe is faced with disbanding. Oyoshi tentatively asks Komajuro to stay, but his current mistress Sumiko (Kyo Machiko) finds out and to get back at him she pays a young performer, Kayo (Wakao Ayako), to seduce Kiyoshi. However the couple fall in love and decide to get married. Komajuro tries to intervene but when Kiyoshi finds out who he really is, he spurns him. Dejected, Komajuro leaves with Sumiko.

     Familiar Ozu themes of domesticity, family life dealing in relationships among two different generations and marriage is again at the core of Floating Weeds. Other familiar Ozu motifs are also evident here such as the low camera angle, the still camera, the movement of actors in a defined space, tight-editing, the use of 'pillow-shots' and the repeated use of the colour red in scenes (although Ozu only made six of his fifty-four films in colour). These motifs define Ozu's films as being transcendental in style, a concept that film writer Paul Schrader mentioned in his 1972 book, Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer.

     This film was one of only three films not made for Shockiku Studios by Ozu. His contract in 1959 called for one film per year and that year, 1959, Ohayo (or Good Morning also available from Madman’s Directors Suite Label here) was made early, so Ozu decided on a re-make of his 1934 film, apparently for Daiei Studios due to a promise made to filmmaker and Daiei Studio executive, Kenji Mizoguchi, prior to his death in 1956. At Daiei Studios he worked with the famous Japanese cinematographer, Kazuo Miyagawa, famous for his tracking shots in Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon and for his 'other-worldly' cinematography in Kenji Mizoguchi's Ugetsu. Would Ozu use tracking shots therefore in Floating Weeds? Daiei Studios not only embraced colour by this time but also widescreen Cinemascope. Would Ozu shoot in widescreen? Floating Weeds was shot in the traditional Academy Ratio (4:3 or 1:33:1) and there is one tracking shot of a boat in the film, the only camera movement seen in all of Ozu's six colour films.

     When film critic Roger Ebert states that “it is impossible to select Ozu's best film because his work is so much of a piece, and almost always to the same high standard”, it's a bit difficult for someone unfamiliar with Ozu's films to comprehend because Ozu's pacing is slow, his plots centre around everyday events, there are sometimes important major plot developments left out (referred to as narrative ellipses) and his still camera and use of 360 degree space all contribute to the need to be more reflective as a viewer. Watch Floating Weeds more than once to see what I mean.

Video

    The video transfer of Floating Weeds is simply gorgeous, it is stunning from the opening scene with the familiar Ozu credits over a sackcloth background to the last shot of the leaving train (which is another common Ozu motif; he loved putting in shots of trains in his films!).

     The aspect ratio is 1:33:1 full-frame, not 16x9 enhanced. As mentioned, this was a highly uncommon practice for a Daiei Studios picture in 1959, but Ozu's use of space in this film makes the choice of the traditional academy ratio understandable.

     Floating Weeds has an excellent bitrate of 8.65 m/b per sec on this DVD. The film has slight grain throughout, but overall it is reasonably sharp.

     Colour cinematography by Kazuo Miyagawa is rich and vibrant, especially the primary colours of red and blue. These colours seem to stand out against neutral white or pale-coloured backgrounds employed in may scenes. Outdoor scenes are especially a highlight of the colour cinematography of this film.

     There are practically no film artefacts present.

     Subtitles are available in default yellow (since it is a colour presentation) or alternative white.

     The RSDL change occurs at 56:22 at the beginning of a scene transition. It is quite noticeable.

Video Ratings Summary

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Shadow Detail
Colour
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Film Artefacts
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Audio

     The audio transfer is not as dynamic as the video transfer, although it is serviceable. The two audio soundtracks, the main Japanese soundtrack and the English audio commentary are both encoded in Dolby Digital 2.0 mono at 224 kbps.

     Dialogue is clear and synchronised, although the sound does come across a bit 'hollow' at times. Sometimes, a faint background hiss is also detectable.

     Music by Kojun Saito supports the themes of film in that it sounds mellow, yet lilting, like the theme of the main characters of the acting troupe who 'float' through life.

     The main soundtrack is in mono so there is no surround channel usage. The subwoofer is not utilised either.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
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Audio Commentary by Dr. Wendy Haslem, Lecturer in Film at the University of Melbourne

     This is an informative and, indeed, comprehensive audio commentary. Dr. Haslem refers to noted Ozu scholars such as David Bordwell and Donald Richie often in this commentary. She also discusses Paul Schrader's transcendental reference to Ozu's work, she mentions the influence of Zen in Ozu's style too. There are in-depth film and life biographies of the main cast and crew. The only slight criticism I have of the commentary is that Dr. Haslem mentions key plot points after key scenes have occurred, whereas more experienced commentators such as Dr. Adrian Martin or Peter Cowie would direct the audience's attention to a key scene prior to the scene. There is also a link made to Douglas Sirk's melodramatic style used in his Universal Pictures late-1950s films; I personally don't concur; in my opinion, the violence in Floating Weeds is not linked to the influence of melodramatic Hollywood features common when the film was made in 1959. Otherwise, this is a fine commentary.

Theatrical Trailer (2:58)

     The original theatrical trailer looks just as gorgeous as the main presentation. It starts with a promotion of Daiei Studios.

Directors Suite Trailers

     Trailers are included for other Directors Suite releases; Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story, Abbas Kiarostami's The Wind Will Carry Us, Hou Hsiao-hsien's The Flight of the Red Balloon and Kenji Mizoguchi's The Crucified Lovers.

     Floating Weeds has been released in Region 1 in the United States by the Criterion Collection. This release comes in a 2-disc version with the original 1934 film, The Story of Floating Weeds. The 1934 film includes an audio commentary by noted Ozu film scholar Donald Richie. The 1959 re-make includes an audio commentary by film critic Roger Ebert and the original restored trailer. An insert contains an essay by Donald Richie comparing the two films entitled, Stories of Floating Weeds.

     In Region 2 in the United Kingdom Artificial Eye has released the film with a softer video transfer than the Criterion version. The only extra on this release is a filmography of Yasujiro Ozu.

     The Region 1 Criterion release is therefore the best available version of Floating Weeds available on DVD.

    ”Subtle, lyrical, and delicately bittersweet, Floating Weeds offers an excellent introduction to the cinema of Yasujiro Ozu—one of the greatest of all Japanese filmmakers, and until recently in the West, one of the least known”: David Ehrenstein's introduction to his 1989 essay for Criterion's release of Floating Weeds onto Laserdisc for me sums up this film by Yasujiro Ozu. He may well be known for Tokyo Story, but Floating Weeds is no lesser a film in his canon.

     This Madman Directors Suite Region 4 release is another quality release from them, continuing their fine support of Yasujiro Ozu's films on DVD.

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