Floating Weeds

A fairly close remake of the 1934 silent film A Story of Floating Weeds, about a group of traveling players whose leader visits his illegitimate son in a remote island town. The remake gains enormously from the acting of Ganjiro Nakamura and Machiko Kyo, as well as the stunning color photography of the great Kazuo Miyagawa, here working with Yasujiro Ozu for the first and last time. It is interesting to note the small alterations made by Ozu in this version, strengthening the end and introducing a different flavor to the scenes of the troupe at work.