The Personal Recommendation Hall of Fame IV

Tools    







Floating Weeds, 1959

A kabuki theater troupe arrives in a seaside town. The troupe is led by its lead actor, Komajuro (Ganjiro Nakamura), who discovers that years earlier when the troupe passed through the town, he fathered a son, Kiyoshi (Hiroshi Kawaguchi), with a local woman, Oyoshi (Haruko Sugimura). This revelation drives a wedge between Komajuro and his current partner, Sumiko (Machiko Kyo), who out of anger gets a young actress (Ayako Wakao) to seduce Kiyoshi.

Having seen and loved the 30s version of this film (also directed by Ozu), I was incredibly interested to see what I'd think of this version. Being Ozu, there was no doubt I'd enjoy it.

It's always kind of surreal watching a loyal adaptation of a film, knowing the major beats ahead of time, but being surprised by the little changes. I'm not sure which version I like more, as they both have things to love.

The addition of color here is great, and Ozu has several sequences--both with actors and without--that really revel in it. A shot that pops up a lot when you search the movie's title is one of two actresses in colorful outfits putting on their makeup, but I was also taken by an actorless shot of the window of a barber shop.

From what I can remember, this film adds some different comical beats. The best is probably when one of the troupe members harasses the daughter of the local barber. The girl calls for her mother, and when the barber arrives she directs the actor into the shave that he has supposedly come for. He sits there as she pointedly sharpens the razor on a strap.

The highlight of the 30s version for me was hands-down the sequence in the rain where Komajuro and Sumiko have a scathing fight as they stand on opposite sides of a street as rain pours down between them. I think that the 30s version slightly takes the edge here for me, as I love the look of the rain in black and white, but the sequence in this version was still goosebump worthy. There was actually another sequence in this version where characters had a conversation as the rain fell outside their window and I thought it was an incredibly beautiful shot.

The only downside to this story is Komajuro's treatment of both Sumiko and Kayo, the younger actress. He is verbally and physically abusive, repeatedly calling both women whores and sluts and slapping them and grabbing Kayo and twisting her arm roughly behind her back. It feels a bit more extreme than the tone of the rest of the film and makes his later interactions with both women frustrating as there seems to be an implication that their actions were of equal severity which they clearly weren't.

Another excellent Ozu.




A freak electrical incident fried my whole HVAC system. I will not have AC for the rest of the summer. I am drowning my sorrows by sitting on the couch and watching some good films in the dark (while periodically taking breaks to go stand under a cold shower because it is a billion degrees).

There's two versions? What is the other one?
It's from the 30s and also directed by Ozu. The title is The Story of Floating Weeds.



So many Ozu's that I haven't seen.
It's interesting because it's a plot that is more dramatic than his other work, which is usually much more purely emotionally driven and takes more times with long domestic moments. Not a complaint, just feel like it's a bit different than the others I've seen from him and it's funny that he made it twice!

Also, forgot to mention in my review that Ozu fave Chishu Ryu shows up for like 3 minutes as a theater owner and I was a bit sorry we didn't see more of him.



I mix up a lot of Ozu's movies. So many with similar titles, stories, and casts. They're all good though.
Yeah, they mostly feel like you're just seeing snippets of lives from the same universe, if that makes sense. Almost an episodic feel. And that's absolutely not a complaint.



Dear fellow Personal Rec members...

I'm going to do my movie write-ups differently this time. Unlike the main HoFs where I try to be somewhat objective....Here I'm going to be completely subjective. After all the goal is for all of you to pick a movie for me that I will love. You don't have to love it, but I do...

To help you all learn more about my taste I will be direct in what I liked or hated about the movies. That way the next time we do a Personal Rec. you can have a better idea of what works for me...and more importantly what doesn't work.

I do THANK everyone for trying to pick movies that I'll like I know it's not easy guessing what others like, especially if you don't know my movie taste.

Here comes my first write-up...





The Player (Altman 1992)

Reaction:

Someone chose well! The Player is right up my alley. It's the type of film I'd chose for myself...and I really enjoyed watching it. As a plus I was glad to explore more of Altman's filmography as I haven't seen many of his movies. The Player reminded me of another favorite by the Coen Brothers, Barton Fink.

What I really liked was the insider story of a Hollywood movie executive who listens to movie pitches and green lights only a handful of films...I want that job!!! I loved the inside look at the movie business, very cool.

I also loved the detail of the sets at the studio, and I loved spotting all the stars who made cameos. Tim Robbins is a favorite actor of mine and I liked him here.

I liked that the story was part comedy and never intense. I dislike intense, realistic crime thrillers, though I do like old 40s-50s film noir...I despise newer crime thrillers. Luckily this film had a lighter feel to it, which suited me. I though the ending twist was pretty clever too and it gave the movie a film within a film feel.

The Player is going to score high on my list.
Attachments
Click image for larger version

Name:	Screenshot from 2021-07-07 11-19-40.png
Views:	372
Size:	243.4 KB
ID:	79200  



You just like that Laura poster on the wall.

I’m glad you liked it so much, I didn’t expect you too. I have no idea how to recommend new movies to you, you almost always surprise me. On the other hand I feel like I know exactly what you will like with old films.

I know I’m giving away this wasn’t my rec, but had to comment.