Ukikusa monogatari (1934)

A kabuki actor's mistress hatches a jealous plot to bring down her lover's son.

Director:

Yasujirô Ozu

Writers:

Tadao Ikeda, Yasujirô Ozu (story)

Stars:

Takeshi Sakamoto, Chôko Iida, Kôji Mitsui

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Takeshi Sakamoto	...	Kihachi
Chôko Iida	...	Otsune, Ka-yan
Kôji Mitsui	...	Shinkichi (as Hideo Mitsui)
Rieko Yagumo	...	Otaka
Yoshiko Tsubouchi	...	Otoki
Tomio Aoki	...	Tomi-boh
Reikô Tani	...	Tomibo's father
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kiyoshi Aono	...	Sword trainer
Mariko Aoyama	...	Barber's landlady
Mitsumura Ikebe	...	Villager
Seiji Nishimura	...	Kichi, an actor
Mitsuru Wakamiya	...	Station attendant
Emiko Yagumo
Nagamasa Yamada	...	Maako, an actor
Munenobu Yui

Storyline

A troupe of actors comes to town, short on funds and bedeviled by bad weather, so they can't put on shows. Kihachi is the troupe's leader. He steals off every day to visit Otsune (an ex-lover) and their son, Shinkichi, who believes his father is a long-dead civil servant. Kihachi has been paying Shinkichi's tuition, and he's now at university. Kihachi's lover, Otaka, the troupe's lead actress, learns Kihachi's secret and plots to ruin Shinkichi and humiliate Kihachi: she offers money to Otoki, the troupe's ingénue, to seduce Shinkichi. Soon the boy is head over heels, and Otoki finds herself with feelings for him. Can this end well or is tragedy at hand?

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Plot Keywords:

troupe | actor | actress | ex lover | rickshaw | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Release Date:

January 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Story of Floating Weeds

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shochiku Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min 86 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Kihachi: My troupe's finally disbanded. No word from Shinkichi yet? Like father, like son. So fast with the girls. I'm finished this time.
Otsune, Ka-yan: I'll fix you a drink.
Kihachi: No sake for me.
Otsune, Ka-yan: Then you won't travel anymore? You can stay as long as you like. Shinkichi is old enough to know by now. He'll understand. He'll back sometime or toher. Let's live together like a family.
[Kihachi nods]
Otsune, Ka-yan: It isn't good to be alone all the time. Let's have a drink.

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Connections

Remade as Floating Weeds (1959)

User Reviews

Acting up

This is one of the earliest Ozu films widely available, and the Criterion version is outstanding in quality.

Its a perfect example of Ozu at his best. Its a gem of a film - beautifully shot, a perfect structure, funny, sad and fascinating. The story is simple enough - a traveling troupe arrive at a town, not realizing the reason the chief actor picked the town is because an old flame of his lives here with his son. His current girlfriend in her jealousy tries to stir things up, but things don't turn out as either expect.

What is most striking about the film is just how modern it seems. The characters are believable and funny, the female characters are strong and willful, while even the minor characters are nicely sketched out. The acting is nothing short of brilliant, which makes the whole film very entertaining - this is no period piece of academic interest only, its a great work of art and a wonderful film - a masterpiece really.