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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray TOP vs. Criterion - Region 0 - NTSC BOTTOM
(aka "Ukigusa" or "Drifting Weeds" or "Floating Weeds")
Subtle, lyrical, and delicately bittersweet, Floating Weeds offers an excellent introduction to the cinema of Yasujiro Ozu -- one of the greatest of all Japanese filmmakers, and until recently in the West, one of the least known.
"The Japanese . . . think of Ozu as the most Japanese of all their directors," wrote film scholar Donald Richie of this master of lyric melodrama and low-key comedy whose career spanned the silent era to the post-war period. And from every angle it's easy to see why. For while the period dramas of his great filmmaking compatriots Akira Kurosawa and Kenji Mizoguchi won acceptance in the West (as their stories sparked comparisons with our Westerns and "women's pictures"), Ozu's work was seldom seen outside Japan until some ten years after his death in 1963. His devotion to detailing everyday Japanese life, and his refusal to jazz things up with fancy camerawork and slick melodramatic formulas, made most distributors feel his work was unexportable -- a quality that made the Japanese take Ozu to their hearts more than ever. |
Poster
Theatrical Release: November 17th, 1959 - Japan
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Comparison:
Criterion - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
Criterion - Region 0 - NTSC LEFT vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray RIGHT
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Distribution | Criterion Collection Spine # 232 - Region 0 - NTSC | Masters of Cinema - Spine #41 - Region 'B' - Blu-ray |
(click titles for DVDBeaver reviews) Criterion (without the extras) also available in The Essential Art House - 50 Years of Janus Films - a 50-disc celebration of international films collected under the auspices of the groundbreaking theatrical distributor. It contains Alexander Nevsky (1938), Ashes And Diamonds (1958), L'avventura (1960), Ballad Of A Soldier (1959), Beauty And The Beast (1946), Black Orpheus (1959), Brief Encounter (1945), The Fallen Idol (1948), Fires On The Plain (1959), Fists In The Pocket (1965), Floating Weeds (1959), Forbidden Games (1952), The 400 Blows (1959), Grand Illusion (1937), Häxan (1922), Ikiru (1952), The Importance Of Being Earnest (1952), Ivan The Terrible, Part II (1958), Le Jour Se Lève (1939), Jules And Jim (1962), Kind Hearts And Coronets (1949), Knife In The Water (1962), The Lady Vanishes (1938), The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp (1943), Loves Of A Blonde (1965), M (1931), M. Hulot's Holiday (1953), Miss Julie (1951), Pandora's Box (1929), Pépé Le Moko (1937), Il Posto (1961), Pygmalion (1938), Rashomon (1950), Richard III (1955), The Rules Of The Game (1939), Seven Samurai (1954), The Seventh Seal (1957), The Spirit Of The Beehive (1973), La Strada (1954), Summertime (1955), The Third Man (1949), The 39 Steps (1935), Ugetsu (1953), Umberto D. (1952), The Virgin Spring (1960), Viridiana (1961), The Wages Of Fear (1953), The White Sheik (1952), Wild Strawberries (1957), Three Documentaries By Saul J. Turell plus the hardcover, full color 240-page book. |
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Runtime | 1:59:08 | 1:58:58.131 |
Video | 1.37:1
Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 8.11 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s |
1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 36,080,597,065 bytesFeature: 34,319,011,392 bytes Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Total Video Bitrate: 34.99 Mbps |
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Audio | Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono) | LPCM Audio Japanese 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit |
Subtitles | English, None | English, None |
Features |
Release Information: Edition Details:
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Release Information: Studio: Masters of Cinema Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 36,080,597,065 bytesFeature: 34,319,011,392 bytes Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Total Video Bitrate: 34.99 Mbps
Edition Details: Chapters 10 |
Comments: |
NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. ADDITION: Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - November 12': The Masters of Cinema transfer is, by far, the most faithful. We have again the 'blue-west'... 'green-east' versions visible, if you compare similar Ozu films from Region 2 + 3 (Panorama). The Criterion is too bright and has altered the colors - not dissimilar to their Good Morning SD. These films are authentically bathed in a green hue. It is quite thick on the dual-layered transfer with a max'ed out bitrate. I see no manipulation.There is a very slight sync issue at times - but I believe this was also an issue when I watched the DVDs (both Criterion and AE.) The MoC is lossless in a linear PCM track and also has optional English subtitles. The only extra is a trailer (in HD) and the extensive liner notes. The Blu-ray is a Dual-Format package with a DVD of the feature included. The Criterion wins for the extras with the commentary but all the rest goes to The Masters of Cinema group. The 1080P is far closer to the way the 1959 Floating Weeds looked - originally and from the available source. For Ozu, and world cinema, fans - an essential. |
Recommended Reading for Japanese Film Fans (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)
The Japan Journals : 1947-2004, by Donald Richie |
The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film by Tom Mes and Jasper Sharp |
Kon Ichikawa (Cinematheque Ontario Monographs) by James Quandt, Cinematheque Ontario |
Shohei Imamura (Cinematheque
Ontario Monographs, No. 1) by James Quandt |
Eros Plus Massacre: An
Introduction to the Japanese New Wave Cinema
(Midland Book, Mb 469) by David Desser |
The Films of Akira Kurosawa by Donald Ritchie |
by Yasujiro Ozu, Kogo Noda, Donald Richie, Eric Klestadt |
Ozu by Donald Ritchie |
A Hundred Years of Japanese Film by Donald Richie |
Check out more in "The Library"
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Criterion - Region 0 - NTSC LEFT vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
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CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Subtitle Sample
Criterion - Region 0 - NTSC TOP vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
(Artificial Eye - Region 2- PAL - TOP vs. Criterion - Region 0 - NTSC - MIDDLE
vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
More Blu-ray Captures
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Distribution | Criterion Collection Spine # 232 - Region 0 - NTSC | Masters of Cinema - Spine #41 - Region 'B' - Blu-ray |