NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (May 2024): Criterion have transferred Yasujiro Ozu's A Story of Floating Weeds (1934) and Floating Weeds (1959) to Blu-ray as they did on DVD 20-years ago. It is cited as a "High-definition digital master of A Story of Floating Weeds" and a "4K digital master of Floating Weeds". We reviewed the Criterion 2004 DVD of The Story of the Floating Weeds HERE, and compared that DVD image of Floating Weeds with the 2012 Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray, HERE. There was also an Artificial Eye DVD of Floating Weeds from 2004, reviewed HERE. We've compared some captures below to Criterion's new 2024 1080P transfers. A Story of Floating Weeds seems to be the same source the older DVD but upgraded to the higher resolution. It's, obviously, much better looking tighter, superior grain support and is more balanced but still has occasional flickering contrast and a few frame specific damage marks. It can look quite impressive at times. Floating Weeds starts with a restoration text screen : "Restored by KADOKAWA Corporation at IMAGICA Corp.
in association with the Japan Foundation.
Special thanks to Masahiro Miyajima for his consultation and to National Film Center,
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo". It's quite a nice upgrade - certainly avoiding the heavy green hue of the Masters of Cinema while colors bolden and appear significantly more balanced. It's in the 1.37:1 aspect ratio (shows a shade more on the right edge and less on the left), details rises form the muddy MoC Blu-ray from 2012. Overall, I was very pleased. It's the best It have seen both films look for home theater consumption.      

NOTE: We have added 50 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Criterion use a robust DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround track (24-bit) featuring a score by composer Donald Sosin (F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu, Silent Ozu, Chaplin's Mutual Comedies etc. etc.). A Story of Floating Weeds (1934) / Floating Weeds (1959) that is also a technical transfer upgrade from the 2004 DVD. The audio for Floating Weeds is in linear PCM mono, in the original Japanese, with a score by Takanobu Saitô (Later Ozu's Tokyo Story, Late Autumn, An Autumn Afternoon, Equinox Flower etc.) There is also Yoshikatsu Hoshoda's Wasurecha iyayo (Don't forget me) sang by the play troupe on a ship, the Kôchi traditional song Yosakoi-bushi, Nanatsu no ko (Seven Crowing Chicks) and Eisaku Takemasa's Nangoku Tosa o atoni shite (When Departing Tropical Tosa.) It all sounds clean and tight - no issues. Criterion offer optional English subtitles (see samples below) on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Criterion Blu-ray include the previous 2004 audio commentaries; Japanese-film historian Donald Richie (author Ozu: His Life and Films) on A Story of Floating Weeds and by film critic Roger Ebert for Floating Weeds - in who stated in 1991 that it was once of the "Ten Greatest Films of all Time." They are very good - I preferred Richie's more academic approach with the silent film. A nice, if not new, addition. There is also a trailer for Floating Weeds and the package has liner notes with an essay by Richie.

Yasujiro Ozu's A Story of Floating Weeds (1934) + Floating Weeds (1959) is an important Blu-ray package. You can see the director's maturation in the remake - made 25-years later. Ozu's films dealt primarily with the dynamics of middle-class Japanese family life and the subtle conflict between generations. Universal themes examining parent/child communication were prevalent in many of his gentle social dramas. Although the "Floating Weeds" stories involve a son rather than a usual daughter / father dynamic that the director utilized in many of his most lauded films. Ozu, ironically, had no direct personal exposure to this familial lifestyle remaining a lifelong bachelor. He is most recognized for his meticulous static-camera style which centered almost entirely on detailed composition. Characters, notably the absentee father, can be seen through the metaphor of a "floating weed" drifting through life without roots. It is so exciting to see the vast video improvement of both masterworks in the same Blu-ray package. Cinephiles should be extremely pleased. No new extras on the Criterion Blu-ray but the included commentaries still have strong value. Strongly recommended - worthy of a double dip.

Gary Tooze