A Story of Floating Weeds (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) (as James Maki)

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?

---

Plot Keywords:

troupe | absent father | jealous lover | actor | ex lover | 

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

January 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Story of Floating Weeds

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shochiku

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film is part of the Criterion Collection, spine #232.

---

Quotes

Otoki: Are you angry because I asked you to meet me? I wanted to see you. Don't you like talking with girls?

---

Crazy Credits

The film title and credits are placed before a backdrop of plain sackcloth. This would become a trademark of Yasujirô Ozu films.

---

Connections

Remade as Floating Weeds (1959)

User Reviews

Powerful

The strong story and interesting relationships between characters overcome a slow pace and some of the issues I have with Ozu's style, and I have to say, this one stuck with me so I rounded up. There is a harmony to the framing of many of Ozu's shots, but he relies too much on his signature low camera angle, which too often doesn't work as well, at least for me (and I know I'm in the minority, apologies Ozu fans). There is real sass to the female characters Otaka and Otoki, but I wasn't wild about the main character hitting them multiple times, and I also smiled over the weak acting in response to it (holding the hand to the face, and yes, shot from kneecap level).

On the other hand, the film finishes strong, including a very touching scene between father and son, mediated by the mother who tells the young man "Just be a great man. That's all he wants. Since you were born, he's been coming here with that one hope in mind." It goes directly to the heart of all parents. The parallel between father and son, with both of them having a charm about them, attracted to actresses, and casting their lines together in a fishing scene, has a symmetry too it, made poignant by his distance over the years, and the train running off into the night at the end. There is real emotional power here.