Review of Floating Weeds

An itinerant troupe of Kabuki players bring their shows to the small town in which their leader Komajuro (Nakamura Ganjiro II) sired a son (Kiyoshi, Hiroshi Kawaguchi) from whom he has hidden his parentage. This beautifully made film is Yasujiro Ozu's 'remake' of his 1934 silent (A Story of Floating Weeds). Like all of Ozu's films, little happens as his static camera catches vignettes of the various shabby players as they try to hustle up an audience for their dated show, hit on the local girls (in several amusing scenes), and drink. Much of the story is about Komajuro's reconnecting with Oyoshi (Haruko Sugimura), the mother of his son and the jealous reactions of Sumiko, Machiko Kyo, his current mistress. Like all of Ozu's films, the drifting apart of generations is a focus as Komajuro struggles to ensure that Kiyoshi will go to university and not be destined to live the same life as his parents or the members of the troupe. Like the original, the story and the 'feel' is poignant and melancholy (although there are some comical moments, I missed the scenes in the silent version in which the little boy with the errant bladder plays a dog when the troupe is on stage). Watched with English subtitles.