Press Release Criterion Press Release: A Story of Floating Weeds / Floating Weeds: Two Films by Yasujiro Ozu (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

​

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.

FILM INFO​

• Spine #232

FILMS IN THIS SET​

• • 
    A Story of Floating Weeds
    
    1934
    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
    
    1959
    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.

SPECIAL 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
• English subtitle translation by Richie for Floating Weeds
• PLUS: An essay by Richie
  
  Covers by Lucien S. Y. Yang
  
  May 7, 2024

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[bujaki]

Both versions are quite wonderful. Ozu based his original film on the part-talkie The Barker (1928) with Milton Sills and Betty Compson.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Nice to see Criterion releasing more Ozu on Blu-ray.

 

[titch]

I haven't seen Floating Weeds, since the 1989 Criterion LaserDisc! So glad we are getting this. The Criterion LaserDiscs were my introduction to Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Suzuki Seijun, and all the Kurosawa's prior to Ran. I thought Criterion would upgrade Tokyo Story with the new master first.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

I haven't seen Floating Weeds, since the 1989 Criterion LaserDisc! So glad we are getting this. The Criterion LaserDiscs were my introduction to Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Suzuki Seijun, and all the Kurosawa's prior to Ran. I thought Criterion would upgrade Tokyo Story with the new master first.

I still have that Criterion laserdisc and the first time i have seen a Ozu film and thought it was great. I bought the disc when i read a great review of the film by Roger Ebert.

 

[jayembee]

I still have that Criterion laserdisc and the first time i have seen a Ozu film and thought it was great.

That was the first time I'd seen an Ozu film, as well. On the other hand, unlike Kevin, it wasn't the last time I'd seen Floating Weeds. I have the DVD edition of this particular double-feature that Criterion released 20 years ago.

 

[Mark VH]

Agree that it's lovely to see more Ozu come to U.S. Blu-ray, though I'm curious as to what the transfers on these might look like given that it doesn't sound like there's been any real restoration work done. The Good Morning Blu was based on a digital restoration as the film was badly in need of it, but this one not so much, it seems. I'll likely wait for reviews before determining whether to upgrade from DVD.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Preorder is live. See top post

 

[lark144]

Agree that it's lovely to see more Ozu come to U.S. Blu-ray, though I'm curious as to what the transfers on these might look like given that it doesn't sound like there's been any real restoration work done. The Good Morning Blu was based on a digital restoration as the film was badly in need of it, but this one not so much, it seems. I'll likely wait for reviews before determining whether to upgrade from DVD.

According to the press release posted at the top of this thread: 4K digital master of Floating Weeds, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack (Blu-ray); High-definition digital master of A Story of Floating Weeds,

I bought a Blu from Masters of Cinema maybe 5 or 6 years ago of FLOATING WEEDS and it was clearly an SD faded master, much inferior to what was on the Criterion release, which looked pretty good, so I'm assuming they did some work on it.

It's always hard to tell from Criterion's verbiage, but that "4k master of FLOATING WEEDS" and "High-definition digital master of A Story of Floating Weeds" sounds like newer and better masters, possibly from new scans, though whether any restoration work was done is unmentioned. Probably best to wait for reviews, though I may pre-order this as FLOATING WEEDS is one of my favorites.