A Story of Floating Weeds (1934)

 Yasujiro Ozu's "A Story of Floating Weeds"

There's something about Ozu that feels incredibly soulful. His 1934 silent film "A Story of Floating Weeds" is an incredibly atmospheric story of family secrets, betrayal, and connection and despite its simplistic nature and naturalist approach, its so full of soul and grace. It would be one of the last silent films that Ozu would make. 

"A Story of Floating Weeds" tells the story of a kabuki actor returning with his troupe to the town of his former lover and his son. His son does not know about his father and the actor, in order to spare his child of the embarrassment of having a kabuki actor as a father, has pretended to be his uncle all his life. When the actor's mistress hatches a plot to reveal the truth to the son, everything begins to fall apart. 

While watching the film, I was curious as to what the symbolic 'floating weeds' of the film's title was. Perhaps the floating weeds are the traveling actors, as they drift from place to place, never having a stable home. Perhaps it is all of the characters, all lost in their own secrets, traditions, and values. Either way, all of the characters seem to be adrift in some way. Because of the sense of class consciousness and honor-bound notions, they are all never able to really truly connect to each other. 

Watching the film, I felt a heaviness inside my soul. Ozu films his characters with such grace and humanity, that its difficult not to feel some sort of tragic connection to each one. You want all of them to come together, despite the complex web of social inequalities at play. And in the end, you feel all the more heartbroken when the connectivity you desire is never fulfilled. It really plays into the humanity of every person's life. It's tragic and heartbreaking, yet so full of love and care. It's very hard to put into words what Ozu is able to communicate in this film, but you know it when you feel it.