A mediocre work by a great Japanese director

Did someone say that I like any movie as long as it's by a famous Japanese director and completed before 1970? Well that person is wrong. Sadly, I did not like Ozu's 1959 film Floating Weeds (apparently a remake of his own 1930s silent movie). Yes, it was promising at first, a simple plot about troubled a generational clash and troubled family relationships, and yes it has many long takes from Ozu's signature camera position, the "tatami point of view" (i.e., shot as if seen from a tatami floor mat). But this is by no means a Tokyo Story or a Late Spring - it's a melodrama in which the characters are wooden and unchanging and in which Ozu seems to have no feelings for his characters, as if he was just pushing to get the actors through their paces. The story in brief: an itinerant kabuki theater troupe comes to a small seaside city (time is undetermined, but it seems to predate the automobile), where as it turns out the head of the troupe years back had a relationship with a local prostitute that led to the birth of a son. The man has continue to support the son, who thinks the man is his uncle (he's now a young adult - and obviously a gullible one). When the man's current partner, a lead actress in the troupe, figures out what's going on, she induces the beautiful young star of the troupe to seduce the son, leading to a # of conflicts and arguments - in many of which the man is brutal and bullying (enough today to get arrested for spousal abuse). There's potential here, but undeveloped beyond the simple melodramatic plot line (though the final scenes, after the troupe breaks up and leaves town are moving and understated) and the whole approach is wooden and eclectic: This never looks or feels in any way like a real city (no street life, crowds, etc.), the music is sometimes absurdly inappropriate to the action, there's little differentiation among the settings, and we don't know enough about the troupers to care about their individual fates, such as they are. At times this movie even feels like a stage play, which perhaps is part of its provenance? Either way, to get a sense of Ozu at his best, start w/ Tokyo Story and pass Weeds by.