The Wolverine: 10 Movies That Influenced James Mangold

7. Floating Weeds (1959) Floating Weeds, one of Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu's many masterpieces, tells the story likeable (though by no means perfect) leader of an acting troupe. It's a melancholic and richly atmospheric movie, and one which The Wolverine's director has likely been inspired by on both aesethic and tonal levels. That said, Floating Weeds was likely to influence Mangold no matter what movie he was making, considering it's one of his all time favourites. Speaking about Floating Weeds on a previous occassion, the director had this to say: "Ozu is the world's greatest director film geeks have never heard of. A poet, humanitarian, stylist, innovator - and a brilliant actors' director. I would recommend the film to anyone with a heart who knows direction is about more than camera moves." Can we expect, then, that The Wolverine will be relatively free of flashy camera moves? Somewhat unlikely, perhaps, given that it's being marketed as a superhero blockbuster, though it'd be nice for Mangold to take time in the quiet, gentler moments of his movie and - like Ozu before him - give the movie a chance to makes its poetry apparent.