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

Yasujiro Ozu (Director) Rated:
NR
Format: Blu-ray
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 45 ratings
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May 7, 2024 		—
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Genre Drama
Format Blu-ray, Subtitled
Contributor Yasujiro Ozu
Language English
Runtime 3 minutes

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A Story of Floating Weeds / Floating Weeds: Two Films by Yasujiro Ozu cover

Now on Blu-ray, two poignant masterworks from one of cinema’s greatest directors, capturing the joy and sadness of everyday life—Yasujiro Ozu’s 1934 silent classic and his 1959 color remake

A Story of Floating Weeds

Floating Weeds

A Story of Floating Weeds

Floating Weeds

Product Description

In 1959, Yasujiro Ozu remade his 1934 silent classic A Story of Floating Weeds in color with celebrated cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. Setting his later version in a seaside location, Ozu otherwise preserves the details of his elegantly simple plot wherein an aging actor returns to a small town with his troupe and reunites with his former lover and their son, a scenario that enrages his current mistress and results in heartbreak for all. Together, the films offer a unique glimpse into the evolution of one of cinema’s greatest directors. A Story of Floating Weeds finds Ozu in the midst of developing his mode of expression; Floating Weeds reveals his distinct style at its pinnacle. In each, the director captures the joy and sadness of everyday life.

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • 4K digital master of Floating Weeds, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • High-definition digital master of A Story of Floating Weeds, featuring a score by composer Donald Sosin, presented in 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio
  • Audio commentary for A Story of Floating Weeds by Japanese-film historian Donald Richie and for Floating Weeds by film critic Roger Ebert
  • Trailer
  • New English subtitle translation for A Story of Floating Weeds and English subtitle translation by Richie for Floating Weeds
  • PLUS: An essay by Richie

    A STORY OF FLOATING WEEDS
    Rich in backstage atmosphere and class-conscious insight,     A Story of Floating Weeds was one of Yasujiro Ozu’s final silent films, and it displays his complete mastery of the form. With a vivid sense of character and the world of rural Japan, he sketches a poignant tale of family secrets, jealousy, and creative community, buoyed by grace notes of humanist observation and by luminous black-and-white cinematography that shows his spare yet lyrical visuals at their most soulful.

    FLOATING WEEDS
    One of six sublime color masterworks that Yasujiro Ozu produced late in his career, the director’s second filming of his own 1934 silent triumph     A Story of Floating Weeds represents the mature flowering of his style. Harnessing the full expressive potential of color, sound, music, and his exquisite compositional sense, he brings new depths of bittersweet feeling—tinged with an aging artist’s melancholic nostalgia—as well as a new air of expansiveness, to a story with enduring resonance.

Product details

  • MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 1 x 1 x 1 inches; 3.2 ounces
  • Director ‏ : ‎ Yasujiro Ozu
  • Media Format ‏ : ‎ Blu-ray, Subtitled
  • Run time ‏ : ‎ 3 minutes
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ May 7, 2024
  • Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ CRT0N
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CVYHNYD3
  • Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 45 ratings

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
45 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

A. Towner
5.0 out of 5 stars Ozu is always good
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2020
Verified Purchase
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.
4 people found this helpful
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J Rodbard
4.0 out of 5 stars Two versions of a classic Japanese film
Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2023
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A superb double bill. But will not okay on European dvd players.
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Max Hurst
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful Movie and A Great DVD
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2005
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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 immediately
innocent 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.
21 people found this helpful
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Nathaniel L. Harper
5.0 out of 5 stars One half of perfection
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2007
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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.
One person found this helpful
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William Britton
5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable! Now on DVD!
Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2004
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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.
13 people found this helpful
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Buenoslibros.es
4.0 out of 5 stars To adapt or not to adapt
Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2007
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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.
3 people found this helpful
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SNS
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2018
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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!
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