A stately film of stunning beauty, Kon Ichikawa's The Makioka Sisters evokes both a way of life and a style of filmmaking that are no more. Based on the classic novel by Junichiro Tanizaki, the film tells the complex story of the personal lives and relationship problems of four sisters who live in Osaka on the eve of World War II, sisters who have control of a family kimono-manufacturing business and whose graceful lifestyle will soon be a thing of the past. Similarly, the film's exceptional color photography, both of nature and of the gorgeous fabrics of the sisters' kimonos, shows the quiet mastery of the great Ichikawa, whose directing career began almost 40 years earlier.
Japan, 1983, 140 min., English subtitles, 35mm
