The title is prophetic as this thing just kinda drifts along, somewhat aimlessly, for two hours plus, with occasional bouts of uncharacteristic, clumsy melodrama from this most understated of directors. It's a story of a down at heel acting troupe stranded without money in a small, somnolent coastal village in the torrid, torpid summer and so there are lots of shots and scenes of people lying about and complaining of the heat or just lying about. And endless shots of the same lighthouse or building along with so many repetitions of the Nino Rota wannabe musical theme that you find yourself mentally requesting scorer Kojun Saito to come up with a new tune. Ozu tries to liven things up with comic relief concerning the amours of various of the male actors but the ugly girl/angry women jokes are not all that funny and the drama, concerning the acting troup leader's illegitimate son and his jealous mistress is, as previously alluded to, on the heavy, creaky side. About the only thing that lingers in the mind is the performance of Machiko Kyo as Sumiko, a beguiling combination of angry, sad and sexy. C plus.
Review of Floating Weeds
