Yasujirō Ozu's Floating Weeds Getting Masters Of Cinema Treatment

FLOATING WEEDS [UKIGUSA] will be released in DUAL FORMAT (BLU-RAY & DVD) & DVD editions as part of the Masters of Cinema Series on 3 December 2012.

Eureka Entertainment have announced that they will be releasing a gorgeous new HD restoration (undertaken exclusively for this release) of  FLOATING WEEDS [UKIGUSA], one of the most acclaimed films by Japanese legend Yasujirō Ozu (Tokyo Story; Late Spring; Early Summer; An Autumn Afternoon; Good Morning). Starring iconic Japanese actors Chishū Ryū (Tokyo Story; Red Beard), Machiko Kyō (Ugetsu monogatari; Gate of Hell), and Haruko Sugimura (Kwaidan; Late Spring), the Dual Format (Blu-ray + DVD) edition, available on Blu-ray for the very first time anywhere in the world, will be released alongside a DVD-only edition on 3 December 2012.

“A thoroughly absorbing affair” – Total Film

“Ozu's familiar combination of melancholy regret and buoyant comic gaiety is beguilingly in evidence.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

“A poignant tale of everyday folk; their lives, loves and losses, rendered with exquisite care, compassion and no small measure of humanity by one of the masters of Japanese cinema.” – Film 4

“Floating Weeds'' (1959) is like a familiar piece of music that I can turn to for reassurance and consolation. It is so atmospheric--so evocative of a quiet fishing village during a hot and muggy summer--that it envelops me.” - Roger Ebert

Towards the end of his career, Japanese master Yasujirō Ozu (Tokyo Story; Late Spring; Early Summer; An Autumn Afternoon; Good Morning) returned to a story he had made some 25 years earlier as a silent, Ukigusa monogatari [A Story of Floating Weeds], for a magnificent colour reworking, photographed by legendary cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa (Rashomon, Ugetsu monogatari).

When a travelling theatre troupe brings their show to a seaside port, Komajurō (Ganjirō Nakamura), an ageing actor, is reunited with his former lover, sake bar owner Oyoshi (Haruko Sugimura), and his illegitimate son Kiyoshi (Hiroshi Kawaguchi), to the distress of his current mistress Sumiko (Machiko Kyō).

From this simple scenario, Ozu builds, one exquisite image at a time, a saga of profound humanity and rich understanding. Encompassing a novelistic range of emotions and tones with the utmost delicacy, Floating Weeds stands tall even amidst a body of work as extraordinary as Ozu's. Making its worldwide Blu-ray debut, The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Floating Weeds in a beautiful new high-definition restoration, released as a Dual Format (DVD & Blu-ray) edition and a DVD edition on 3 December 2012.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Exclusively restored high-definition master presented in the film's original aspect ratio, in 1080p on the Blu-ray

• Newly translated optional English subtitles

• Original Japanese theatrical trailer

• Illustrated booklet featuring the words of Ozu, rare archival imagery, and more

• Further details to be announced nearer the release date!
Pre-Order/Buy:FLOATING WEEDS [UKIGUSA](Masters of Cinema) (DVD) [1959] / DVD (&BLU-RAY DUAL FORMAT)