A Story of Floating Weeds

Directed by
 Budget

A Story of Floating Grass  ((浮草物語(浮草),   *Ukikusa monogatari*?, Lit. Floating Grass Story) is a 1934 is a 1934 silent film directed by Yasujiro Ozu which he later remade as *Floating Weeds* in 1959 in color. It has won the Kinema Junpo Award for best film. Shochiku Kinema was the production and distribution. the film Stars, Kihachi, played by Takeshi Sakamoto , is the second film of the main character, "Kihachi Mono," and is based on the American movie "Kleshas" directed by George Fitzmorris ( English version )  . The original was a sound version , up to the theme song, but the existing print is only the silent version . In 1959 (Showa 35), Ozu himself remade it under the title of " Ukikusa ". The 11th Kinema Junpo Best Ten No. 1.

## Plot

Kihachi, the chairman of the troupe of travelers, goes to the country town where the woman Otsune, who gave birth to her own child, Shinkichi, lives. Kihachi hid the situation from Shinkichi, trying not to be a parent of Kawahara beggar . The current wife, the actress Otaka, is jealous and seduces Shinkichi when she is young, but she really loves Shinkichi. Kihachi rebukes him for being furious. On the other hand, Kihachi decides to dissolve the troupe due to financial difficulties due to the continuous rainy days and poor customer traffic. Kihachi confronts Shinkichi at Otsune's house, and Otsune tells Shinkichi that Kihachi is his real father. In the end, Kihachi always asks Shinkichi and his time to go away. He reunited with Taka at the station and set out on a journey again.

## Cast

* Kihachi (left half of Ichikawa): Takeshi Sakamoto
* Otsune: Choko Iida
* Nobuyoshi: Hideo Mitsui
* Otaka: Emiko Yagumo
* Time: Yoshiko Tsubouchi
* Totsan : Reiko Tani
* That child Tomio: Rushing kid
* Yoshi-chan: Seiji Nishimura
* Duke Maa: Nagamasa Yamada
* Below: Munenobu Yui[1]
* Old tool shop: Shusuke Kake
* Barber Kami: Mariko Aoyama
* Villager: Chishu Ryu (non-credit)

## Staff

* Director: Yasujiro Ozu
* Screenplay: Tadao Ikeda
* Original: James Maki (Yasujiro Ozu)
* Photo / Editing: Hideo Shigehara
* Art: Tatsuo Hamada
* Director assistance: Kenkichi Hara , Hamao Negishi, Tokio Tanaka, Kazuo Ishikawa
* Shooting assistance: Yuharu Atsuta

## Over Works

* This work is rare in Ozu's work and is set in the world of a local "traveling performer troupe", and the main characters are wearing kimono.
* Although it is "Kihachimono" again, there is a slight difference in the character setting of Kihachi compared to the previous work " Deco-Koro ".

## Themes

The film includes the first appearance of what became one of the director's trademarks: a title sequence in which the credits appear against a sackcloth backdrop. Not only does this fit the story's pastoral setting, but since the credit sequences of Ozu's previous films had featured cartoony illustrations, the choice of humble sackcloth indicates the emergence of his mature film-making style.

## Legacy

In 2005 , at the New York Guitar Festival commissioned the guitarist Alex de Grassi to compose a score to *A Story of Floating Weeds*. The guitarist performed his original music to accompany the film at the 2006 New York Guitar Festival.

## DVD

*A Story of Floating Weeds* was released on Region 1 DVD on The Criterion Collection on April 20, 2004 as a two-disc set with *Floating Weeds*. An alternate audio track contains a commentary by Japanese film historian Donald Richie; another features a new score by composer Donald Sosin.

## Gallery

*Main article: A Story of Floating Weeds/Gallery.*