The Makioka Sisters (1983)

This sensuously beautiful film chronicles the activities of four sisters who gather in Kyoto every year to view the cherry blossoms. It paints a vivid portrait of the pre-war lifestyle of ... See full summary »

Director:

Kon Ichikawa

Writers:

Shin'ya Hidaka, Kon Ichikawa

Stars:

Yoshiko Sakuma, Sayuri Yoshinaga, Yûko Kotegawa

5 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yoshiko Sakuma	...	Sachiko Makioka
Sayuri Yoshinaga	...	Yukiko Makioka
Yûko Kotegawa	...	Taeko Makioka
Jûzô Itami	...	Tatsuo Makioka, Tsuruko's husband
Takenori Emoto	...	Higashidani
Ittoku Kishibe	...	Itakura
Yonedanji Katsura	...	Okuhata (as Kobeichô Katsura)
Michino Yokoyama	...	Itani (as Michiyo Yokoyama)
Miki Sanjô	...	Ohisa
Taiko Shinbashi	...	Mrs. Jinba
Kayoko Shiraishi	...	Restaurant owner
Kuniko Miyake	...	Aunt Tominaga
Yukari Uehara	...	Oharu
Akemi Negishi	...	Mrs. Shimozuma
Toshiyuki Hosokawa	...	Hashidera

Storyline

This sensuously beautiful film chronicles the activities of four sisters who gather in Kyoto every year to view the cherry blossoms. It paints a vivid portrait of the pre-war lifestyle of the wealthy Makioka family from Osaka, and draws a parallel between their activities and the seasonal variations in Japan.

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Plot Keywords:

sister | japan | cherry blossom | meddling | women | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

30 December 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Makioka Sisters

Filming Locations:

Kyoto, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Eizo Co.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

140 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White (flashbacks) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Decline and decay are prominent themes of the film and novel and are emphasized by the repetition of certain events. The succession of Yukiko's suitors, the sisters' yearly cherry viewing excursions, and the increasing severity of illness form a pattern of "decline in repetition" in both the film and novel.

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Goofs

Taeko is clearly wearing a strapless bra when she's in the bathtub.

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Connections

Version of Sasameyuki (1950)

User Reviews

well-made Japanese flick that could have used more energy

This is a gorgeous film to watch--you probably will never see a more beautiful view of Japan as you see of the wonderful cherry blossoms or Japanese Maples around Kyoto and Osaka. So, the cinematography is excellent. However, the story itself seemed awfully flat overall. The writing and acting was decent, but the film needed more energy, heart and a sense of humor for me to care more about the characters. Most of the characters would have surely benefited from a massive dose of this, as the way they were portrayed it was, at times, hard to for me to care about them or sustain my interest in the film. For example, the 3rd daughter (who was the one who repeatedly refused marriage proposals) was a bit of a cipher, as she didn't say very much and just used a lot of facial expressions instead of dialog. The youngest, though a little self-destructive, was probably the easiest to like or at least understand. And the two older sisters were very domineering but needed to be softened a little more--lest they seem too one-dimensional. A decent film, but that's all.