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Release: May 7, 2024

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In 1959, Yasujiro Ozu remade his 1934 silent classic A Story of Floating Weeds in color with celebrated cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. Setting his later version in a seaside location, Ozu otherwise preserves the details of his elegantly simple plot wherein an aging actor returns to a small town with his troupe and reunites with his former lover and their son, a scenario that enrages his current mistress and results in heartbreak for all. Together, the films offer a unique glimpse into the evolution of one of cinema’s greatest directors. A Story of Floating Weeds finds Ozu in the midst of developing his mode of expression; Floating Weeds reveals his distinct style at its pinnacle. In each, the director captures the joy and sadness of everyday life. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES 4K digital master of Floating Weeds, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack High-definition digital master of A Story of Floating Weeds, featuring a score by composer Donald Sosin, presented in 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio Audio commentary for A Story of Floating Weeds by Japanese-film historian Donald Richie and for Floating Weeds by film critic Roger Ebert Trailer New English subtitle translation for A Story of Floating Weeds and English subtitle translation by Richie for Floating Weeds PLUS: An essay by Richie A STORY OF FLOATING WEEDS Rich in backstage atmosphere and class-conscious insight, A Story of Floating Weeds was one of Yasujiro Ozu’s final silent films, and it displays his complete mastery of the form. With a vivid sense of character and the world of rural Japan, he sketches a poignant tale of family secrets, jealousy, and creative community, buoyed by grace notes of humanist observation and by luminous black-and-white cinematography that shows his spare yet lyrical visuals at their most soulful. FLOATING WEEDS One of six sublime color masterworks that Yasujiro Ozu produced late in his career, the director’s second filming of his own 1934 silent triumph A Story of Floating Weeds represents the mature flowering of his style. Harnessing the full expressive potential of color, sound, music, and his exquisite compositional sense, he brings new depths of bittersweet feeling—tinged with an aging artist’s melancholic nostalgia—as well as a new air of expansiveness, to a story with enduring resonance.

Release: August 27, 2019

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One of the ineffably lovely domestic sagas made by Yasujiro Ozu at the height of his mastery, The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice is a subtly piercing portrait of a marriage coming quietly undone. Secrets and deceptions strain the already tenuous relationship of a childless, middle aged couple, as the wife’s city bred sophistication bumps up against the husband’s small town simplicity, and a generational sea change—in the form of their headstrong, modern niece—sweeps over their household. The director’s abiding concern with family dynamics receives one of its most spirited treatments, with a wry, tender humor and buoyant expansiveness that moves the action from the home into the baseball stadiums, pachinko parlors, and ramen shops of postwar Tokyo. BLU RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES • New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack • What Did the Lady Forget?, a 1937 feature by director Yasujiro Ozu • New interview with film scholar David Bordwell • Ozu & Noda: Tateshina Diaries, a new documentary by Daniel Raim on Ozu’s relationship with longtime screenwriter Kogo Noda • New English subtitle translation • PLUS: An essay by scholar Junji Yoshida Top About this item Similar From the Brand Reviews The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Release: May 16, 2017

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Children rebel when their parents refuse to buy a television in Yasujiro Ozu's warm and gently satirical suburban comedy.

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A devoted daughter resists marriage because she does not want to leave her widowed father in Ozu's tender portrait of family duty and change.

Release: March 22, 2016

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A profoundly stirring evocation of elemental humanity and universal heartbreak, Tokyo Story is the crowning achievement of the unparalleled Yasujiro Ozu (Late Spring). The film, which follows an aging couple as they leave their rural village to visit their two married children in bustling postwar Tokyo, surveys the rich and complex world of family life with the director s customary delicacy and incisive perspective on social mores. Featuring lovely performances from Ozu regulars Chishu Ryu (There Was a Father) and Setsuko Hara (Late Autumn), Tokyo Story plumbs and deepens the director s recurring themes of generational conflict, creating what is without question one of cinema s mightiest masterpieces. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES - New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray - Audio commentary featuring Yasujiro Ozu scholar David Desser, editor of Ozu s Tokyo Story - I Lived, But . . . , a two-hour documentary from 1953 about Ozu s life and career, featuring interviews with critics and former cast and crew members - Talking with Ozu, a forty-minute tribute to the director from 1993, featuring the reflections of filmmakers Lindsay Anderson, Claire Denis, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Aki Kaurismäki, Stanley Kwan, Paul Schrader, and Wim Wenders - Trailer - New English subtitle translation - PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic David Bordwell.