REVIEWS AND PRESS

"A Whartonian work of compassionate nostalgia tinctured with irony... overwhelmed sporadically by onrushes of beauty — a rapturous collage of kimono fabric, or the sisters’ annual spring viewing of the cherry blossoms, figures at the center of an already-gone world."- Nick Pinkerton, The Village Voice

"FOUR STARS - You can easily see why Ichikawa’s vision of the 20th-century Japanese-lit landmark is considered definitive; the way he elevates the story’s soap-operatic elements to a level of extraordinary sublimity makes the melodramatic seem positively majestic." - David Fear, Time Out New York

"Good, clean, scandalous fun as well as a masterwork of an underappreciated Japanese auteur … Full of knowing looks and meaningful gestures, The Makioka Sisters is a joy to get caught up in." - Joe Bendel, The Epoch Times

"Like in the best Preminger or Sirk movies, emotions, motivations, and the implications of shared histories become more complex, not less, for being the primary subject of the dialogue, as the sisters behave counter to their well-established characters, or change their minds outright." - Mark Asch, The L Magazine

"Revisiting The Makioka Sisters so long after its first release makes it a reminder of the humane values that have virtually vanished from the international art-movie scene. Its virtues are apparent in Ichikawa's basic treatment of his actresses' faces; his camera is open to their emotional variety and subtlest physical expression." - Armond White, The New York Press