Floating Weeds

An Ozu picture is a state of mind.  It’s quiet; observant; takes the time to get to know people and their place.  An Ozu picture demands attention and rewards the time and effort to get into its headspace.

I couldn’t give Floating Weeds that kind of attention.  I saw it in snippets of 30 minutes or so.  Just as I entered its meditative state, just as I tuned into its wavelength, life called me away to its demands.  This killed the viewing experience.

I perceived that the village in of the film was a hot, humid, tiny place.  I perceived that everyone knew everyone else’s secrets.  I understood who the characters were and I tracked the elements of the story.  But I didn’t feel myself in the narrative.  I couldn’t stick around long enough for the village to come alive and the characters to become real.

I’m frustrated.  The film is technically perfect, and Ozu’s unique way of staging provides much for the eye and the mind.  But I think I’ve learned my lesson.  I’ll never again try to see one of his films on my laptop as time permits.  I’ll wait for his work to play at the AFI, hire a sitter, and sit in a dark room where I can focus.

I’ll find that state of mind.

Tokyo Story

The more I think about TOKYO STORY, the more I like it.

It's a simple story. Grandma & Grandpa leave their provincial home and come to Tokyo to visit the kids. The kids are busy, and the visit does not go well.

Some audiences may find the movie difficult to approach because it's very Japanese. Its characters do not boradcast their every emotion. They don't yell. They don't burst into song. They don't weep majestically. They smile, and bow, and hurt. In other words, they do the kinds of things that people do all over the world, bu they do it within the bounds of their cultural paradigm. Audiences who are willing to attune themselves to that paradigm will discover a movie that's uncomfortably close to home, that speaks to the ways marriages work and the ways generations deal with one another. They'll discover a movie that speaks to the creeping sense of discontent we sometimes feel creeping up on us, and they'll discover a movie that addresses all of these themes in a thoughtful, compassionate, and adult manner.

TOKYO STORY is a serious movie, well made and performed, that earns its place in our imaginations. It is time well spent.