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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")

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/direct-chair/ozu.htm
Japan 1959

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.

Excerpt from David Ehrenstein'as review found HERE

Poster

Theatrical Release: November 17th, 1959 - Japan

Reviews                                                                 More Reviews                                                 DVD Reviews  

 

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

Box Cover

  

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.

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 bytes

Feature: 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.

Bitrate:

 

Bitrate: Blu-ray

 

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:
Studio: Criterion Collection / Home Vision

Aspect Ratio:
Original aspect Ratio 1.37:1

Edition Details:


Disc One: A Story of Floating Weeds
• New high-definition digital transfer with restored image and sound
• Audio commentary by Japanese film historian Donald Richie
• New score by noted silent-film composer Donald Sosin
• New and improved English subtitle translation by Donald Richie
• Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

Disc Two: Floating Weeds
• New high-definition digital transfer with restored image and sound
• Audio commentary by film critic Roger Ebert
• Original theatrical trailer
• New and improved English subtitle translation by Donald Richie
• Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

DVD Release Date: April 20th, 2004

Keep Case
Chapters: 21

Release Information:
Studio: Masters of Cinema

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 36,080,597,065 bytes

Feature: 34,319,011,392 bytes

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

Total Video Bitrate: 34.99 Mbps

 

Edition Details:
• Original Japanese theatrical trailer (2:56 in 1080P)
• 36-PAGE BOOKLET featuring a lengthy new essay on the film and Ozu by critic Ignatiy Vishnevetsky; new translations of excerpts from Ozu’s 1959 diaries; and rare archival imager.

Blu-ray Release Date: December 3rd, 2012
Transparent Blu-ray  Case

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.

Gary W. Tooze


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

Tokyo Story

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"




Menus

Criterion -  Region 0 - NTSC LEFT vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray RIGHT

 


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

 


Screen Captures

Criterion -  Region 0 - NTSC TOP vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


Criterion -  Region 0 - NTSC TOP vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


Criterion -  Region 0 - NTSC TOP vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


Criterion -  Region 0 - NTSC TOP vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
 

Criterion -  Region 0 - NTSC TOP vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
 

More Blu-ray Captures


Box Cover

  

Distribution Criterion Collection Spine # 232 - Region 0 - NTSC Masters of Cinema - Spine #41 - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

 



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Gary Tooze

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