Roger Ebert on Ozu's Floating Weeds

[@sleuthentertainment5872]

Curiously Floating Weeds is just a remake of an early Ozu film of the same name But both versions (one shot on a mountain landscape in black and white, the other on a coast town with vivid colors) are masterpieces of the director

[@HenryConway007]

I love Yasujiro Ozu. He’s up there with Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese as one of my favorite directors. Also, I really love Roger Ebert’s commentaries. Decades in front of a TV camera really trained him how to perfect a conversational tone, so you feel as if he’s whispering into your ear in a movie theater.

[@ElazarY]

Check out Kurasawa’s film; “Dreams”. It’s a masterpiece. It’s free on KZbin

[@cabau3876]

Comparing Ozu to Scorsese is absurd.

[@adikravets3632]

Ozu is above and beyond Scorsese and Kubrick.

[@themoreyouknowfools4974]

@@cabau3876 I think even Scorsese would agree it’s absurd.

[@fabmeyer_ch]

You *could* compare Ozu to Hitchcock. In terms of aesthetics, Ozu would surpass Hitchcock for sure however both were very influential on the history of cinema (Ozu in Japan and Hitchcock in the western world, respectively).

[@laurencegoldman4639]

Ditto Richie: That opening bottle can be seen as a compositional device and also as Ozu’s ongoing devotion to the Sake bottle. Late Autumn can be looked as co-staring alcohol.

[@halwarner3326]

Boy do I miss Ebert

[@nadiazayman779]

I miss Roger Ebert for his brilliance and wit, but most of all for his humanity.

[@fiarandompenaltygeneratorm5044]

I didn't always agree with him (geez, he hated Blue Velvet!), but he was always the critic whose opinion I wanted to hear. (Now it's Mark Kermode.)

[@nadiazayman779]

@@fiarandompenaltygeneratorm5044 I haven't heard of Mark Kermode, but will check him out.

[@fiarandompenaltygeneratorm5044]

@@nadiazayman779 Check out the KZbin channel "Kermode and Mayo's Take." They used be involved with the BBC, but I think they're independent now.

[@annedwyer797]

Beautifully said...I agree with you! I felt a personal loss when he died, which is rare to say about a public figure.

[@deckofcards87]

@@fiarandompenaltygeneratorm5044Kermode is a good critic, but I don't find his tastes to be as open-minded and eclectic as Ebert's. And he's obviously not as prolific.

[@AlonsoRules]

Tokyo Story is a flawless film

[@charlie-obrien]

Also, "Late Spring". Both part of the "Norika trilogy" which all starred the beautifully talented Setsuko Hara. A series of 3 films that at first seem very similar but each explores the ever changing Japanese experience in the years following WW2, although the war itself is merely invoked as background.

[@rorz999]

Not to be a contrarian, but Tokyo Story, while great, I didn't think was close to being Ozu's best film. Most of Ozu's films are very direct and don't waste a second, but I found Tokyo Story to be overly long and meandering at points

[@styxcreek]

Ebert also did a brilliant commentary track for Casablanca. Wish he did a few more.

[@HenryConway007]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Decades in front of a TV camera really taught him how to perfect a conversational, engaging tone.

[@jpvieira3203]

His commentary on Citizen Kane was also amazing.

[@ianbauer4703]

Love Ozu, Love Ebert!

[@rapportbuilding3474]

ozu towers over all

[@thatmovieguy777]

Ebert lives on!

[@joenicholls3131]

I just love Ozu, true master

[@jeanvuvu6900]

Ozu is a Giant !

[@NarutoSasukeSaiman]

There is no blu-ray of Floating Weeds, it's only in 480p

[@tedmills]

Now there is!

[@MrRazorblade999]

:) Vincent and Roger actually parted on amicable terms.

[@KenKen3593]

David Bordwell, please don't die this year, too.

[@PinkFloydrulez]

he made a bunch of nerds really mad one time when he said video games weren't art, that's probably it

[@dbag3345]

they ain't tho

[@bradbailey5481]

D Bag they are, but because the medium spends so much time mimicking film, it has yet to be elevated into a fine art the way film or painting has been. It needs to distinctly stand out. But medium is relatively young, but I’d argue that the medium is definitely fine art.

[@grantdminchin]

@@bradbailey5481 Have you played many games that you would consider more than just a mimick of films?

[@bradbailey5481]

Rising R'lyeh absolutely, just pointing out that a large number of big budget/heavily marketed games follow that structure

[@SuperiFox]

@@bradbailey5481 You're 100% on the money sir

[@JesusCristo2002]

"Thumbs way up!" For the comment.

[@TheMadAfrican1]

He was 100% wrong about video games and Die Hard, but he had some brilliant insights on film. And his term "pillow shot" is a perfect description of the quiet, contemplative shot that is sometimes inserted in several Japanese films.

[@Christian_from_Copenhagen]

A lot of hate for Ebert here. Why so strong feelings?

[@dornravlin]

what was wrong with Ebert what he do

[@alspageddi]

Yeah, I was just fuggin around. :D

[@QED_]

The problem with this commentary is the same as with most art commentaries. Ebert tells us interesting stuff about Ozu's compositional technique . . . but then tells us nothing about WHAT DIFFERENCE IT SPECIFICALLY MAKES TO THE VIEWER AND WHY.

[@BadMouse101]

In my mind it creates a sense of voyerism and naturalism, we feel as though we are in the room with them together. The low angle and correct composition balances the shots perfectly so we never feel like the shot is too out of place or at a wrong angle/perspective. And the timing of each scene in the way it moves along, along with all the static shots of landscape and buildings, allows us to take a breath and prepare for the next scene, instead of just constant progression of one scene to another.

[@skaplan1995]

+greenrate Why would you want somebody else to think for you?

[@thetramp123]

Well Ebert mentions that Ozu liked creating pleasing compositions but he also mentioned two people that go into Ozu's work at great depth. Donald Richie whose book on Ozu follows through Ozu's process from writing through shooting to post production and he goes into the Zen Buddhist concept of 'Mu' a little as it relates to Ozu's work (even if as he says Ozu may have denied such intentional views). And David Bordwell. Bordwell's book Ozu and the Poetics of Cinema was offered to download for free online as a pdf last I knew.

[@portland9880]

@@BadMouse101 the legend himself is a fan of Tokyo Monogatari, fantastic. Love your content comrade.

[@46metube]

That's for you to work out.

[@alspageddi]

That you, Vince?

[@benblexbenblex]

Nice but would be better to have an actual japanese film scholar except bordwell and richiw. Although ebert is humble enough to admit hes still an outsider.

[@cmonman3639]

Such a silly comment

[@SaskeDevil]

why do you still post videos in 480p, it's 2013

[@maddy8390]

A video easy that says nothing

[@nikosvault]

u mad?