Herbes flottantes

Original title: Ukigusa

IMDb RATING

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Machiko Kyô and Ayako Wakao in Herbes flottantes (1959)

The head of a Japanese theatre troupe returns to a small coastal town where he left a son who thinks he is his uncle, and tries to make up for the lost time, but his current mistress grows j... Read allThe head of a Japanese theatre troupe returns to a small coastal town where he left a son who thinks he is his uncle, and tries to make up for the lost time, but his current mistress grows jealous.The head of a Japanese theatre troupe returns to a small coastal town where he left a son who thinks he is his uncle, and tries to make up for the lost time, but his current mistress grows jealous.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.9/10

9.4K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Stated by cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa about director Yasujirô Ozu: "I'll never forget that, from the first day on, he knew the names of everybody on the set, fifty people in the crew, people he'd never worked with. He'd written their names down, I learned later. But everyone was impressed and became devoted to him. Every single day working on this film was extremely pleasurable and enriching. In each of Ozu's films you can sniff his personality. He was pure, gentle, light-hearted, a fine individual."

Goofs
Near the end, sandals disappear or move around: after Kiyoshi argues with his father, he runs upstairs, first slipping out of his sandals and leaving them at the bottom (center) of the stairs. Moments later, Kayo goes up to him. We see that she, too, removes her sandals at the bottom of the stairs. But Kiyoshi's sandals have now suddenly disappeared: we see only Kayo's sandals at the bottom of the stairs. Moments later, Kiyoshi comes back downstairs to go after his father. He goes to put on his sandals, which have now suddenly reappeared, but in a different location from where he took them off. A moment later, Kayo also comes down the stairs and puts on her sandals, which are approximately where she had removed them and placed them, moments earlier.

Quotes
Komajuro Arashi: You can't help an empty house, when it's empty.

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert Holiday Gift Guide (1989)

Soundtracks
Wasurecha iyayo (aka: Don't forget me)
Composed by Yoshikatsu Hoshoda
Sang by the play troupe on a ship

User reviews47

Featured review

8/10

Excellent colour 'remake' of Ozu's black and white silent classic

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.