THE MAKIOKA SISTERS

This highly stylised melodrama reverently covers an elegant period in Japanese society in the late 1930’s when wealthy m erchants families revelled in all the steeped traditions of courtship and marriage.  With both parents dead Tsuruko the eldest Makioka sister is the head of the family and as she and Satchiko (the second eldest) are already married they share the responsibility of trying to find a suitable husband for Yukiko the next sister.  The trouble is she’s very picky and refuses most potential matches much to the annoyance of Taeko the youngest in particular as custom insists that she cannot take a husband until Yukiko does.

The four sisters …. all stunningly beautiful … are complex characters and all completely different. Tsuruko in particular cannot let go of the past and believes it is her somewhat sacred duty to maintain the high standing of the Makioka name as one of the leading families in Osaka. Satchiko is the most generous and unselfish one and she invites the two younger sisters to live with her and her husband, who then becomes an obstacle in the marriage stakes as he takes more than a brotherly shine to Yukiko himself. Taeko feels neglected as everyone is so focused on suitor hunting for Yukiko so she embarks on a series of unsuitable liaisons just to rock the boat.

Filmed in 1983, it’s all like a pre-cursor to a Daytime Soap with its exaggerated acting complete with long lingering poses although it is extremely sophisticated and is so rich in style and eloquence that it makes for such compelling viewing.   Everything about it is so exquisitely graceful : from the smallest mannerisms to the most spectacularly beautiful costumes ….. and when the sisters take their annual pilgrimage to Kyoto to see the cherry blossoms it is the most perfect visual treat (as cliched as it maybe).

This was the end of one era in Japan and the start of another ….it’s a slow transformation seen through the lives of these fascinating women. The story that unfolds is almost like a Japanese take on a Jane Austen except they don’t get quite so fazed when Yukiko rejects so many of her possibilities.

Based on a novel of the same name, the movie was the highpoint of prolific filmmaker Kon Ichikawa’s long career which spanned some 89 movies.  The DVD was issued in 2010 from a remastered print but I simply cannot remember how it ever appeared on my to-watch list  ……. but i am so thrilled it did.  It is an extraordinary irresistible treat.  Only one ‘but’ ….. and that is the heavily synthasized peculiar soundtrack which really throws you at first at it so unsuitable.

★★★★★★★★★