PRODUCT INFORMATION
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.
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.
FEATURES:
4K digital master of Floating Weeds, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack (Blu-ray); high-definition digital transfer of Floating Weeds (DVD)
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 on the Blu-ray
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 Floating Weeds (Blu-ray only) and English subtitle translation by Richie for A Story of Floating Weeds
PLUS: An essay by Richie
Shipping
No, we only ship inside the US
Most orders for in-stock items take less than 24 hours to ship (may take longer if you place an order over the weekend). Pre-orders are shipped as soon as the product arrives. International pre-orders may not come in before the street date. This is especially true with Australian pre-orders.
We only use USPS for all shipments. If there is an issue after your order ships you will need to contact your local post office.
Product
All items that come with a slipcover will say so in the product page.
Pre-orders will not say WITH SLIPCOVER until the product comes in.
Slipcovers are not guaranteed to be in mint condition.
If you can order it, it's either in stock or a pre-order. If an item is out of stock you will not be able to add it to your cart. It's rare but our inventory may not be correct. So in some cases an item may have to be shipped separately.
Other
We do not sell bootlegs. All product arrives from the distributor or is directly from the filmmakers. All items are new and sealed. Some indie titles or signed editions may not have shrinkwrap.