| The Makioka Sisters | |
| Director: | Kon Ichikawa |
| Producer: | Kon Ichikawa |
| Starring: |
|
| Music: | Shinnosuke Okawa Toshiyuki Watanabe |
| Cinematography: | Kiyoshi Hasegawa |
| Editing: | Chizuko Osada |
| Studio: | Toho |
| Distributor: | Toho |
| Runtime: | 140 minutes |
| Country: | Japan |
| Language: | Japanese |
is a 1983 drama film directed by Kon Ichikawa based on the 1957 serial novel of the same name by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki.[1] It depicts the pre-war lifestyle of the wealthy Makioka family from Osaka with parallels to the seasons in Japan.[2] [3]
The story takes place in Japan primarily during the late 1930s (Shōwa period). The sisters live in the Kansai area (Kobe/Osaka) and travel to Tokyo and other prefectures throughout the novel.
In the spring of 1938, the four sisters, along with Teinosuke, Sachiko's husband, came to Kyoto to admire the cherry blossoms. Sachiko is unhappy that the elder sister Tsuruko, who is the heiress of the Makioka clan and therefore represents the main house of the clan, upset the matter with Yukiko's marriage for the reason that a fatal flaw was discovered in the groom's clan.
Five years ago, the youngest of the Taeko sisters ran away from home with Keizaburo Okuhata, the third son of the owner of the Okuhata jewelry store located in Semba, Osaka's mall. One newspaper found out about this, but it mistakenly wrote the name of Yukiko instead of Taeko. Tatsuo, Tsuruko's husband, who together with her represents the main house of the Makioka clan, demanded a refutation, but the newspaper only corrected its mistake, instead of Yukiko's name, writing the name Taeko, which only aggravated the seriousness of the situation. Dissatisfied with this turn of affairs, Yukiko and Taeko refuse to live in the main house and move to the Sachiko house, which is a lateral branch of the Makioka clan.
Taeko starts making dolls. Her interest in Okuhata gradually fades and she grows closer to Itakura, who was previously an apprentice at Okuhata's jewelry store, but now became a photographer. At this time, Yukiko's bridegrooms are arranged with a bank broker, an employee of the prefectural council and the vice president of a pharmaceutical company, but they do not end in marriage, since Yukiko does not like the suitors. Itakura contracts an ear infection that leads to his sudden demise. And then Tatsuo comes home with the news that he is being transferred to Tokyo for work. Tsuruko is lost.
Yukiko is again offered a husband. This time the groom is a representative of the former aristocracy, the grandson of Viscount Higashidani. After Itakura's death, Taeko began going to bars, trying to drown her grief. In one bar, she meets the bartender Miyoshi, leaves the house and moves in with him. Miyoshi turns out to be an honest and serious young man, and Taeko starts a new life with him, which reassures the sisters worried about her fate. Tsuruko, after much hesitation, finally decides to leave for Tokyo with her husband. Yukiko is also doing well with Mr. Higashidani, they decide to get married.
On a winter's day at Osaka Station, Yukiko, Teinosuke and the others say goodbye to Tsuruko and her family who are leaving for Tokyo. Sachiko, however, decides not to see her off, thinking the pair would cry and embarrass themselves. Instead, she visits Taeko at her new home, and the two share tea and watch the falling snow.
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by the Criterion Collection on June 14, 2011 for the first time in the United States. The disc only contains a theatrical trailer as a special feature, along with the standard Criterion booklet.[4]
In February 1985, Vincent Canby called it a "a lovely though not always easy to follow adaptation" of the novel and said "I can't be sure that the English subtitles catch what I assume to be the satiric edge to the dialogue in what is a rather sad comedy of manners. What is clear, though, is Mr. Ichikawa's cinematic equivalent of a literary style, in which characters are sometimes isolated in extended close-ups that have the effect - if not the substance - of internal monologues or of author's comments. The Makioka Sisters, though always beautiful to look at, is more stately than emotionally or intellectually involving."[5]
The film has received overwhelmingly positive reviews, in so far as it has been reviewed at all, earning a rare 100% percent on Rotten Tomatoes, from a pool of reviews with but three "top" reviewers.[6]