Popular reviews

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  Review by Arsaib Gilbert ★★★★ 3

  [Favorites of 1930s]

  It may be impossible to compute, but given how often fathers are physically or emotionally absent in the films of Ozu Yasujirô it is safe to say that his own situation growing up left a lasting impression on him. Ozu, who spent the majority of his life living with his mother, did not have much contact with his father during his formative years, a once-prosperous man who died in 1933, a year before he made the silent A Story of Floating Weeds (Ukikusa monogatari).

  The film opens with the arrival of an itinerant kabuki troupe to a provincial town. The impoverished band is led by a good-natured man named Kihachi (Sakamoto Takeshi, who played a similar character…

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  Review by BrandonHabes ★★★½ 20

  The first Ozu film that feels distinctly "Japanese." Which is funny because for a time many believed Ozu's films were "too Japanese" to be appreciated by western audiences. The irony? Ozu was making western-inflected, Hollywood tributes and films about Japan's modernization since the beginning of his career long before anyone from the West even really knew about him. To call his films "too Japanese" is to be entirely unfamiliar with the kinds of stories he frequently told, which wouldn't grow in popularity in the West till after the war. A STORY OF FLOATING WEEDS is the first film I've seen from Ozu that feels like a period piece. Every character wears traditional Japanese garb, the setting reflects traditional kabuki theater and performances,…

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  Review by Rashid N. ★★★★

  I was going through my schedule for my Yasujirō Ozu binge and almost left out this film because I wanted to get to his talkies quicker but I am so glad that I didn't as A Story of Floating Weeds is easily my favourite from Ozu thus far.

  Up to this point, I had really liked and even sort of loved That Night's Wife and Tokyo Chorus but found them to be riddled with problems and that they were severely underdeveloped, that was mainly the case for That Night's Wife. I had enjoyed his work but it was frustrating to not feel the same love and appreciation for his work as many others had felt so. Yet, I knew that…

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  Review by Sally Jane Black 4

  Having already seen Floating Weeds, there were no surprises here, but I still found myself a little choked up at the end. The story is as effective as a silent, black-and-white film as it was in its later form. It's a well crafted melodrama that captures the emotional complexity of the head of an acting troupe as he navigates the dissolution of his troupe while reconnecting with his son (who is ignorant of the man's status as his father). He shows profound integrity when everything blows up, and that moment has twice now stunned me.

  In grey tones, the film does not lack for powerful imagery. Father and son fishing together, fluidly moving their fishing lines back and forth, is…

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  Review by meg✨ ★★★

  I very much love 1930s silent films. Thank you Yasujiro Ozu.

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  Review by Stephen Gillespie ★★★★

  Welcome to Juno's Flavours of Ozu. An Ozu season created by one of Letterboxd's best members.
  
  One of the few early Ozus that feels like one of his later works. Therefore, it is unsurprising that this would be remade (as was the other silent highlight, I Was Born, But...). This has a structure that would become the director's own: a pleasantly meandering opening act where it is not clear what is truly apropos (in a strict narrative sense), only for the pressure to build and for the relationship dynamics to create their own narrative in the remainder of the film.

  It is a satisfying formula that creates reality, empathy and well drawn characters. The relationship led storytelling is wonderful to…

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  Review by VonBergundy ★★★★ 2

  Despite almost every plot point feeling just a tad undercooked (mostly due to the quick runtime), Ozu was still able to make me care immensely about these characters. Obviously Shinkichi's story of becoming a man and learning/accepting the truth about his father is the core of the story, but all of the characters are interesting. I especially loved the father/son duo in the acting troupe, who provided some comic relief while nearly moving me to tears with their limited screen time.

  But as I said- this is primarily a story about Shinkichi and his father. The scene of them fishing together, with their fishing lines being cast in unison as to illustrate their bond, is truly beautiful yet tinged with…

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  Review by Lucy 🏳️‍⚧️ 🏳‍🌈 4

  "Are the weeds floating because they're high?"

  - Some annoying asshole in my film class

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  Review by Lizzy ★★★½

  The beginning of full growth. Much of the usual Ozu Observance is here, the quintessential breathy architectural and cultural surveillance burdened by human follies and joys, but I notice an ironic formatic coltishness. It was the first seed planted in Ozu's proverbial forest and feels as such; wading waist deep without a raft in those highly patient ideas that he's now regarded as being the master of. Discipline and wisdom take experience and foundational creaks to expand, and this, as generational as weeds prove to be, feels like the first step to his method as every film historian knows it. Fascinating!

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  Review by sprizzle ★★★★

  99 problems.

  Yasujiro Ozu is known as one of the grandest masters of cinema. Recently, his film Tokyo Story topped a poll of 358 filmmakers for the Sight & Sound Director's Top Ten. He's a director that is considered to be dense for many (myself included). But the simplicity of A Story of Floating Weeds showcases why his style works. It's a movie that seems completely separate from every other film I've seen from that time period.

  My biggest gripe with Tokyo Story is, frankly, it wasn't that innovative. It was Ozu honing his skills in for the 50th time and making a near perfect movie. This film is the first Ozu film I've seen that, to me, is groundbreaking. In…

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  Review by Edgar Cochran ★★★★★

  Yasujiro Ozu was a true master at his craft. Theatrical performances and gestures were predominant during the silent era for enhancing the dramatism effect intended, but Ozu (and Mikio Naruse too, for that matter) knew that the stories are what are left in the audience's hearts, and even the images can stay there too. Hence, a striking cinematography is displayed in front of our eyes, creating an aura of either wonder or tension, depending on what the scene intends to create. Although the majority prefers the remake, the black-and-white, silent nature of Ukikusa Monogatari captures a much more tragic feeling, all the more nostalgic.

  And.... unlike the remake, this one had me in tears towards the ending.

  98/100

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  Review by Mike D'Angelo ★★★ 5

  51/100

  Floating Weeds got almost exactly the same rating (a flat 50, generally my shrug of indifference), and I retained no memory of it two decades later, so apparently this particular tale—whether sound or silent, monochrome or color, pre- or post-war—just doesn't much appeal to me.

  (Rest of the review, along with everything else I write, available via ultra-cheap subscription. Seriously, it’s as little as $1 a month and for now that pays my rent.)