Ukikusa
1959 / 119m - Japan
Drama
1.5*/5.0*
Floating Weeds poster

Watches

June 11, 2022

1.5*/5.0*

Asia loves a good theater troupe drama, so I'm not surprised to see Ozu also took a shot. Two shots in fact, as this is a remake of his own film. Though made 2 decades later, I can't say it's a noticeably better film, it's not really the type of film that could benefit greatly from a remake either.

Arashi is the leader of a theater troupe. One day he takes his troupe to a small coastal town, where he goes to visit Kiyoshi. Kiyoshi believes Arashi is his uncle, but Arashi is in fact his father. When Arashi's mistress understands what's going on, she becomes jealous. If Arashi isn't careful, the future of his entire troupe might be at stake.

The characters aren't too interesting, the drama is also rather basic. Ozu's signature gentle approach to the drama is only semi-successful, but that's largely because I didn't really care too much about the proceedings. The cinematography and score aren't too notable either. Not a terrible film, just not something I cared for very much.