Ukigusa (1959)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Yasujiro Ozu

Writers:

Kôgo Noda (screenplay) and
Yasujiro Ozu (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 November 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A troupe of travelling players arrive at a small seaport in the south of Japan. Komajuro Arashi, the aging master of the troupe...

Plot Keywords:

Actress | Travelling Players | Japan | Male Female Relationship | Mother Son Relationship

Cast

Ganjiro Nakamura	...	Komajuro Arashi
Machiko Kyô	...	Sumiko
Ayako Wakao	...	Kayo
Hiroshi Kawaguchi	...	Kiyoshi Homma
Haruko Sugimura	...	Oyoshi
Hitomi Nozoe	...	Aiko
Chishu Ryu	...	Theatre Owner
Koji Mitsui	...	Kichinosuke
Haruo Tanaka	...	Yatazo
Yosuke Irie	...	Sugiyama
Hikaru Hoshi	...	Kimura
Mantarô Ushio	...	Sentaro
Kumeko Urabe	...	Shige
Toyo Takahashi	...	Aiko no haha
Mutsuko Sakura	...	O-Katsu
Natsuko Kahara	...	Yae
Masahiko Shimazu	...	Sono mago, Masao
Michisumi Sugawara	...	Kyaku
Tatsuo Hanabu	...	Rokusaburo
Tadashi Date
Tsutomu Tanaka	...	Kamenosuke
Hachiro Misumi	...	Sailor
Taro Marui	...	Shokichi
Saburo Sakai	...	Guest's father
Koh Sugita	...	Wharf worker
Nobuo Minamitaka	...	Ogawa noodle shop customer
Kyousuke Shiho	...	Post Office staff
Seiji Sasaki	...	Ume family father
Joe Ohara
Kenichi Miyajima	...	Aiko's father
Kisao Tobita
Osamu Maruyama	...	Tokezo
Tetsuo Takeuchi
Ken Yamaguchi
Rin Sugimori
Yoshiaki Fujimura	...	Nagataro
Wakayo Matsumura	...	Old woman's guest
Mitsuko Takesato
Nobuko Shingu

Directed by
Yasujiro Ozu

Writing credits
Kôgo Noda		(screenplay) and
Yasujiro Ozu		(screenplay)

Produced by
Masaichi Nagata	....	producer

Original Music by
Kojun Saitô

Cinematography by
Kazuo Miyagawa

Film Editing by
Toyo Suzuki

Production Design by
Tomoo Shimogawara

Art Direction by
Tomoo Shimogawara

Makeup Department
Takashi Makino	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bainari Nakamura	....	assistant director

Art Department
Tokujiro Harasima	....	property master
Iwao Iwami	....	set designer

Sound Department
Takeo Suda	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Yukio Itô	....	lighting technician

Editorial Department
Shozo Tanaka	....	color consultant

Other crew
Sueyuki Hanayagi	....	choreographer
Hideo Matsuyama	....	planner
Kichijiro Ueda	....	stage director

Production Companies

• Daiei Studios

Distributors

• Daiei Motion Picture Company (Japan)
• Artificial Eye (2003) (UK) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Altura Films S.L. (1970) (USA) (subtitled)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (USA) (laserdisc)

Also Known As:

Drifting Weeds
Floating Weeds (USA)

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | UK:PG (re-release)

Company:

Daiei Studios

Trivia:

Roger Ebert picks this film as one of his all-time 10 favourites.

Goofs:

Continuity: Near the end, sandals disappear or move around: after Kiyoshi argues with his father, he runs upstairs, first slipping out of his sandals and leaving them at the bottom (center) of the stairs. Moments later, Kayo goes up to him. We see that she, too, removes her sandals at the bottom of the stairs. But Kiyoshi's sandals have now suddenly disappeared: we see only Kayo's sandals at the bottom of the stairs. Moments later, Kiyoshi comes back downstairs to go after his father. He goes to put on his sandals, which have now suddenly reappeared, but in a different location from where he took them off. A moment later, Kayo also comes down the stairs and puts on her sandals, which are approximately where she had removed them and placed them, moments earlier.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Les triplettes de Belleville (2003)

Go see this movie now!

In a week I saw this movie three times. Why? Because its charm really got me, it should get you too! Set on an small island in the warm southern Japan summer, a struggling kabuki troupe comes by boat to stay there for a few shows. They actually stay much longer than that because the leader of the troupe has some personal matters here.

The characters in this movie felt so real its as if I know them. And I think back on them fondly. I and the cynic, but unexperienced son (was it Kiyoshi?), the jealous femme fatale Sumiko, the lovely mother of Kiyoshi, the sweet flower Oyoshi and the others are almost like friends. Ozu succeeds in getting the very best out of the actors so they cease to be actors. Best is Kyô Machiko as Sumiko and Nakamura Ganjiro as the troupe leader. I am not all convinced on Kiyoshi though, esp. during the Sumiko confrontation.

Stylistically this is a perfect film. Camera is fixed in well composed shots and we get to mediate on the surroundings and the people and let it all sink in. Look out for the quarrel scene, its simply one of the most powerful scenes I've seen.

Music carries the feelings in the movie even if its just too simple songs (that I remember). The heat is felt and I'm there sweating with them.

Some noted that this is good soap opera, I disagree, this is drama of the highest order, the kind of drama you don't see much in movies at all. This was my first Ozu, and its not everybody's favourite it seems, still its hard to surpass this..