Obscure Japanese Film #148
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Junko Kano and Fujiko Yamamoto
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Junichiro Tanizaki’s
novel Sasameyuki is widely recognised
as a classic of Japanese literature. Translated into English as The Makioka Sisters in 1957 by Edward G
Seidensticker, it has remained constantly in print ever since. The book was
originally published in serial form beginning in 1943, but this was soon halted
by the Japanese War Ministry – not because it criticised the government, but
because, according to them at the time, ‘The novel goes on and on detailing the
very thing we are most supposed to be on our guard against during this period
of wartime emergency: the soft, effeminate, and grossly individualistic lives
of women.’* I would have thought they should have been more worried about the
enemy, but in any case, Tanizaki was forced to wait until the war had ended to
resume publication, with the final instalment appearing in 1948.
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Yukiko Todoroki
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The story itself takes
place between 1936 and 1941, ending around eight months before the attack on
Pearl Harbour, and it seems that Tanizaki’s intention was partly to provide a
record of a way of life he had seen rapidly vanishing before his eyes. The
Makioka sisters are four adult siblings whose parents are no longer alive. Once
a grand family, their fortunes are on the wane but they remain very well-to-do
in comparison with most Japanese and keep a number of servants. The eldest,
Tsuruko (played here by Yukiko Todoroki), lives apart from the others with her
husband and children in what is referred to as the ‘main house.’ She is a
peripheral character, but, as the senior surviving member of the family, the
other sisters must defer to her and her husband before making any important
decisions. Tsuruko later goes to live in Tokyo when her husband has to relocate
for his job, but her sisters remain in their hometown of Osaka.
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Machiko Kyo and Fujiko Yamamoto
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The other three sisters
live together. In order of age, they are Sachiko (Machiko Kyo), Yukiko (Fujiko
Yamamoto) and Taeko, familiarly called ‘Koi-san’ (Junko Kano). Sachiko is
married to Teinosuke (Kyu Sazanka), with whom she has one child, Etsuko (Takako
Shima). Although Sachiko is held responsible for her two younger sisters by the
main house, little of the drama revolves around her. Instead, much of it
concerns the attempts to find a husband for Yukiko, whose shy and sometimes
stubborn nature makes this difficult. Ever since her original fiancée was
killed in an accident, each marriage proposal has come to naught for one reason
or another, and Yukiko is already approaching 30 when the story begins.
Complicating matters further is the fact that Taeko must wait until Yukiko is
married before getting married herself in order not to humiliate Yukiko and
leave her looking like an old maid that nobody wants. Taeko is the closest
thing to a rebel in the family, generally doing as she likes and indulged by
her older sisters, who make allowances for her due to the fact that their
parents died when she was so young. Even so, her disregard of the rules only
goes so far and she avoids direct confrontation.
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Junko Kano
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The sisters are
likeable characters who live their lives trapped in a web of etiquette.
Overly-concerned with what others think, they are unable to make a move without
first ensuring that what they do will not offend anyone else or damage their
own social status, but there’s little in the way of arrogance about them. Rather,
they are simply behaving according to the rules by which they were brought up
and it doesn’t even occur to them to do otherwise. In the book, Tanizaki paints
a minutely-detailed picture of their lives, but never tells us what to think
about it. The future of the family is left open at the end, but it’s impossible
to be unaware of the dark cloud of war that awaits them just over the horizon,
and no doubt Tanizaki planned it that way.
The first film version
appeared in 1950, directed by the forgotten Yutaka Abe, but notably starring
Hideko Takamine as Taeko. When Koji Shima came to direct this remake for Daiei, Tanizaki
was still alive (aged 74), and permission was sought from him to update the
story to the present day, which he granted. I doubt whether this was to save
money as the Japanese film industry seemed to have plenty to throw around in
1959, so I suspect the idea was to broaden the appeal to the modern audience. The
story transfers with surprising ease to the Japan of the late ‘50s, but of
course the feeling of watching a vanishing way of life is mostly lost.
The wisdom of
attempting to condense a novel which comes in at 530 pages (in its English
translation) into a film running an hour and 45 minutes is also open to
question. This episodic kind of material is probably better-suited to
television and, in fact, there have been six different versions made for
Japanese TV over the years. These misgivings aside, screenwriter Toshio Yasumi
does a creditable job under the circumstances, choosing to concentrate less on
the attempts to arrange a marriage for Yukiko and instead focus on the events
revolving around Taeko, which are somewhat more dramatic.
One of the best things
about this film is the casting – all of the main actors are well-suited to
their roles and are talented enough to make them feel like real people. It also
looks a treat, with some interesting lighting choices including director Koji
Shima’s trademark orange glow of sunset in several scenes, while the music – at
least once the main credits are over – is restrained and tasteful.
Cinematographer Joji Ohara and composer Seitaro Omori were both regular
collaborators of the director. Shima had a fondness for storms as well as
sunsets, which is just as well as the book contains a dramatic storm sequence
which he pulls off nicely here. He also shows great skill at co-ordinating his actors,
who perform all sorts of little bits of business during their dialogue scenes
with great naturalism. Along with films such as The Beloved Image and A
Rainbow at Every Turn, The Makioka
Sisters provides further proof that Koji Shima was not simply a hack
who made Warning from Space and The Phantom Horse, but was also a true
artist when he wanted to be.
Bonus trivia: After 20
years of being blacklisted, Fujiko Yamamoto (who plays Yukiko here) was invited
back to the big screen by Kon Ichikawa to play Tsuruko in his 1983 remake. After thinking about
it for six months, she said no and decided to stick with her stage work.
*Rubin,
Jay. Injurious to Public Morals: Writers and the Meiji State. Seattle:
University of Washington Press, 1984. P.264.
Blu-ray at Amazon Japan (no English subtitles). This comes with a bonus DVD of a rare early Machiko Kyo film apparently, but I haven't been able to determine the title.
DVD at Amazon Japan (no English subtitles).
Thanks to A.K.
