![two women in traditional Japanese dress stand next to each other, bodies facing sideways and turned toward the camera, one with a cigarette hanging out of her mouthalr](/public/upload/events/medium/644992ee61b42.jpg?1682543343)
A Story of Floating Weeds
(Ukigusa monogatari)
Live Musical Accompaniment
Screening on Film
$15 Special Event Tickets
With Sakamoto Takeshi, Iida Choko, Mitsui Hideo.
Japan, 1934, 35mm, black & white, silent, 86 min.
Japanese intertitles with English subtitles.
Print source: Janus Films
A loose adaptation of The Barker (1928) by George Fitzmaurice, A Story of Floating Weeds follows a touring actor who refuses to settle down, and the reverberating effects his noncommittal lifestyle has on those around him. As a troupe of kabuki actors adapt to their latest destination and prepares to perform, their leader Kihachi (Sakamoto Takeshi) steals away to see his former lover Otsune (Iida Choko). Otsune has been raising their son Shinkichi (Mitsui Hideo), who believes Kihachi to be his uncle. What Kihachi imagined to be a simple pit stop ends in failed promises and thwarted dreams, through which Ozu connects Kihachi’s mediocrity as an artist to his inability to be a responsible father or a respectful lover. With its dwindling size, the touring troupe becomes a metaphor for Kihachi’s impossible attempt to flee from these interconnected responsibilities. Along with its color remake Floating Weeds, A Story of Floating Weeds is one of Ozu’s only surviving films about artists, making it an especially significant work in illuminating Ozu’s view of the artist as a marginalized yet vital member of society.
Live musical accompaniment by Robert Humphreville.
Part of film series
Screenings from this program
Late Spring
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Tokyo Story
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Early Summer
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Passing Fancy
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Dragnet Girl
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Tokyo Story
![Two young Japanese women in shirts and skirts sit on stools on the street, slightly smiling and looking at the viewer](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/64498be38e74d.jpg?1684418221)
A Story of Floating Weeds
![two women in traditional Japanese dress stand next to each other, bodies facing sideways and turned toward the camera, one with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth](/public/upload/events/thumb/644992ee61b42.jpg?1682543347)
Days of Youth
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The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice
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Early Spring
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The Munekata Sisters
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Floating Weeds
![a Japanese man and woman in traditional dress look past the camera with concerned expressions](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/644a8c8b0d2de.jpg?1682607503)
Good Morning
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Late Autumn
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Tokyo Twilight
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The Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family
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I Flunked, But …
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Late Autumn
![three Japanese women seated on mats with tea, one wearing traditional dress](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/644a9b3c3097b.jpg?1682611255)
Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth?
![a young man with a military cap leans on the counter of a bar looking at another man in military garb looking down while a woman stands behind the bar, between them](/public/upload/events/thumb/644aacbc8fcd5.jpg?1682615487)
The End of Summer
![a young woman in Western-style dress and an older woman in traditional Japanese dress lean on a porch railing, smiling and looking out](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/644aaddad5717.jpg?1682615778)
Early Spring
![a group of young Japanese men and women at dinner gaze at one man and a woman shaking hands over the table](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/644a8498d959e.jpg?1682605211)
Café Lumière
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Tokyo Story
![Two young Japanese women in shirts and skirts sit on stools on the street, slightly smiling and looking at the viewer](/public/upload/events/thumb_wide/64498be38e74d.jpg?1684418221)