The Makioka Sisters (film)

The Makioka Sisters (細雪, Sasame-yuki^?, "light snowfall") is a 1983 drama film directed by Kon Ichikawa based on the serial novel of the same name by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki.

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 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."

When it was screened as part of a TIFF 2013 retrospective, Scott A. Gray of Exclaim! gave the film (6 stars out of 10), saying: "Overall, it's a beautiful, well-acted work packed with gorgeous art design, but one that falls prey to the occasional indulgence—bloated scenes, garish synthesizer music—that detracts from the film's impact".