Made in 1959, ‘Ukigusa / Floating Weeds‘ is part of Yasujirô Ozu‘s final group of six color films. It is a remake of a silent movie made by Ozu in 1934. The Japanese master was apparently a late adopter of the major technical inventions in film history. A few years after the invention of spoken cinema, he continued to make silent movies, as if to say that he had not yet exhausted the format and to offer viewers a sample of the evolution of film art if sound had not existed. He also adopted late, only in the last years of the decade of the 1950s, color film. By then, Ozu had matured, the drama of the films of his youth had been replaced by a directorial vision in which conflicts do not always happen in front of the spectators and when they do they are not necessarily externalized but rather kept inside by the characters. In addition, Ozu had created his own unique visual style with still frames and exquisite compositions where the characters are mostly seen from below or at most at eye level. The transition from black and white to color that took place in the last decade of his life and directorial career was made without any aesthetic compromise. Most of the films made in this period bring to the screens human stories, family dramas or about conflicts between generations that take place against a well-defined but non-intrusive social background. They are simple, deep and beautiful films. ‘Floating Weeds‘ is one of them.
In the center of the story is a traveling theater troupe led by ‘Master’ Komajuro, who arrive in a small town by the sea. The troupe is made up of mostly men and only two women: Sumiko – Komajuro’s partner and mistress, and young Kayo, the daughter of a late actor who was a former member of the team. The period of artistic glory seems to have long passed and the financial difficulties are not late to show up either. However, the Master is particularly concerned with visiting his ex-girlfriend who lives in the city and spending ‘quality time’ with his son Kiyoshi, a handsome 20-year-old boy who is preparing to leave to study and who does not know that the actor is his father. The reason? – an itinerant actor, a ‘floating weed’ would not be an honorable father. When Sumiko becomes suspicious and then jealous, she hatches a plot for revenge that will involve young Kiyoshi and Kayo. Komajuro’s world, with the secret of his paternity and with the band in artistic and financial drift, risks collapsing.
The charm of Ozu‘s films lies in the storytelling that always offers opportunities to reflect on the relationships between moral values and social conventions and on the differences between feelings and appearances, and in the original and organically integrated style of the narrative. Many other filmmakers have tried to ‘borrow’ this style, but few have succeeded in doing something interesting and not ostentatious. Not only is each frame worked in detail and can be analyzed as a painting, but everything has its role and the ensemble reveals to the viewers both the geographical and social setting and the world of the characters, with their conflicts and feelings. The cast is, as always with Ozu, wonderfully chosen and directed. There is one additional element in this film that sets it apart from his other films – the theater theme. ‘Floating Weeds‘ can also be seen as a story from and about the world of theater and a reflection on the role and status of theater in Japanese society at the time. Conflicts between generations and between tradition and modernity are also expressed through what happens within Komajura’s troupe of actors. From this point of view I find Ozu to be not only contemporary but also in resonance with Fellini in their fascination with theater and the performing arts, each in the artistic tradition of his culture. Lately discovered outside of Japan, Ozu is today an inescapable cultural landmark, and ‘Floating Weeds‘ is part of his gift to cinema history.