It took a bit to get past the whole male dominance thing in this film. It was apparently OK for a man to strike a woman if she challenged him, even if he had little to stand on. Her we have a man who is a mixed bag. He is in a traveling acting troupe. At some point he impregnated a woman and has a son who has turned 19. He is going to school and is doing very well. His son thinks his father is dead and that this guy is a sort of uncle. He visits whenever the troupe is in that area. It's amazing that the secret has been so well kept. But he has a problem. A woman from the troupe gets fed up with his casual treatment of the son and his unwillingness to inform him of the reality. She is really jealous of the boy's mother who is a rather plain, kind woman who would love to get the family back together. A pretty young actress is paid by the older woman in the troupe to seduce the son, simply out of spite. At that point, things get quite complex when the young woman really falls for the son and he for her. It's a very engaging movie, just long enough to keep us engaged. I only realized today that I had seen the remake of this silent film which was made in 1959 nearly eight years ago. That is an equally fine film made by a great director, Yasujiro Ozu.
Review of A Story of Floating Weeds
